Exposed

Raw awareness of Countless perceptions Cloaked in bravado; steeped in deception Attached by chance, or perhaps choice To fickle company with humiliation’s voice Constant requirement for assimilation Or face the consequences of social annihilation Monumental effort to discover within Someone strong enough to survive inside this thin skin Ugly and cruel before it happens to you Watching the pack circle the unfortunate few, Who, now looking back were stronger than most And the alpha wolf leaders have all become ghosts But what did we know then of altruism? Walking around like open sores with clouded vision Running the gauntlet of harsh adolescence With fervor and passion not to be rivaled since Heady memories only; both wicked and splendid A secret locked time, into jaded minds blended Carefully, in age we tread; to not be exposed For the doorways back to our teenage wasteland All have been closed