HoH

I used to hand my heart out like a letter on a doorstep,

Every truth I carried open, every feeling left in plain text.

Thought if I was honest, they would meet me in the middle,

But they flinched at every shadow, called my softness something brittle.

I kept thinking I was broken for the way my words were heavy,

Didn’t know that naming storms can make the sunny days unsteady.

So I folded up my meaning, tried to speak in smaller pieces,

But the silence felt dishonest, and the ache just never ceases.

Honesty — they say it’s the best policy,

But honestly, they only want the parts that don’t cut deep.

Lie to me — that’s what their comfort seems to need,

But I won’t die to these anxieties or keep on hiding things.

If honesty is all of me, then let it sting.

I met a few who claimed they wanted truth without conditions,

But their mirrors stayed fogged over, they were loyal to omission.

They’d ask me for my candor, then retreat when it got real,

Like they wanted all my insight but refused to ever feel.

And I learned that some confessions only travel one direction,

They want honesty from others, not the kind that shows reflection.

So I stopped mistaking hunger for the courage to be open,

Some hearts only want the answers, not the cost of what was spoken.

Honesty — they say it’s the best policy,

But honestly, they only want the parts that don’t cut deep.

Lie to me — that’s what their comfort seems to need,

But I won’t die to these anxieties or keep on hiding things.

If honesty is all of me, then let it sting.

Now I speak like someone weathered, but I’m softer than I sound,

I’ve learned truth is not a weapon, though it shakes the shaky ground.

I don’t offer every secret, but I never fake the light,

I just choose the ones worth sharing, and I hold the rest at night.

If my honesty unsettles, that’s a price I’ll let be paid —

’Cause I’d rather bruise a moment than live constantly afraid.

I used to think that honesty was something I owed everyone,

But now I know it’s sacred, and it’s mine before it’s sung.

If it hurts, it hurts — but it’s the truest thing I bring,

And I won’t trade my clarity for temporary peace again.

Honesty — it’s still my best policy,

And honestly, I’m done with shrinking just to keep the waters sweet.

Lie to me — no more; I’d rather stand here incomplete,

Than die to these anxieties or keep on hiding things.

If honesty is all of me then...

let it sting.