The secrets we keep,
Both juicy and sweet,
The poison we hold inside,
Not to infect the naïve and unassuming,
Some for personal gain,
Some for others protection,
We all pay a price,
Some of worth,
And others for no reason
Because the stakes are
So low if only to keep some
Small part of your life to yourself,

Secrets, some were born into them,
 A family filled with skeletons in the closet,
 And webs of lies swaddling innocence,
Others grow into their secrets as
They grow ashamed of their true flawed self,
Some are secret keepers, sin eaters,
Sharing the burden and lightening the load,

One thing we know for sure,
There is a version of ourselves
That not even our closest friends and family know,

Sshhhhh! Careful the secrets you keep,
And those you let loose,
One wreaks havoc on your insides,
The other effects those around us,
And the perception they have of us,
 Though the older I get,
 The more important truth is,
And the less I care what people think of me,
Life is funny that way, 

Still, I will take secrets to the grave,
Leave my loved ones wondering,
Spare them the pain I bore for them,
A painful kindness,
That I never understood
In my elder loved ones,
Until I got older,
Until life weathered me,
Until life carved me,
And gutted me,
And I had to protect
Those who could not
Protect themselves
Including myself,

Let my lips curl,
And my jaw clench,
And my heart heave,
Let the knowing smile
Make people wonder,
I will take the bile,
And churn a secret pearl,
Collect them in a
Roaring stomach ocean,

Too many, and they will claw my insides,
Too many, and some our bound to climb up,
And spew out my mouth,
Out of preservation, out of survival,
Some words, some bile, some pearls,
All secrets, all secrets I have kept
And paid the price,
Some I even swallow again
The price too great not to keep it under wraps
To the grave, to the grave, to the grave I say!


~ By Hyacinth Hale