FLYING FREE
It's really hard, sometimes, to tell
If someone new means harm or well.
It's hard to trust my inner clues
At first, when meeting someone new.
From childhood, I was told, "Be nice!
So what if she yells once or twice?
Don't trust what simmers way down deep!
She's really good--not mean and cheap!"
After years of training such,
My gut agrees it knows not much.
And I fall victim to the prey
That lurks in shadows of each day.
And, too, the world does not know me.
Rarely, do they really see.
Although I gladly share my mind
I'm hidden away from human kind.
Then, one day, I learned to trust
That I can see through flesh and lust.
Inner vibes have seen and heard.
They tell me thoughts without a word.
Next, I meet friends with this same knack
Of seeing clear through from front to back.
It makes me slightly ill-at-ease
To be exposed so easily.
And, yet, I'm soaring through the trees.
I'm riding high! I'm out! I'm free!
The door's unlocked. I no longer hide.
Someone really sees inside!
I drink it in with smiles and tears,
Filling the void of many years.
Afraid to admit it's really here.
And, yet, afraid it will disappear.
After a while, I know it won't end.
And it's okay to be exposed to a friend.
I hang on to feelings of flying free,
And thank the Lord for you and me!
Lynnette Schuepbach, February 15, 1993
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