"What they don’t tell you
about the gentle ones,
is how we keep all our hurts in cages,
and line them..."

“What they don’t tell you

about the gentle ones,

is how we keep all our hurts in cages,

and line them up like circus attractions

on the inside of our own chests.

We carry the weight of them,

and call it surviving.

.

What they don’t tell you

about the ones who grew up

walking tightropes,

is that we only look so graceful

because we never learned

how to climb down

and we call this

remarkable.

.

What they don’t tell you

about the illusion

is that I am as much lion

as I am lion tamer.

And I got good at inflicting pain

the same way I got good

at soothing it.

This, we call unfortunate,

but inevitable

and sure.

.

What they don’t tell you

about the gentle ones

is how raw we all are,

just below the surface:

how the roar of the crowd

feels like a city burning;

how we love like immolation;

how we leave nothing but dust

in our wake.

.

We call this

poetic justice.

What they didn’t tell you

about us

is that we’ve learned so well

that we only have to be cruel

once.”

- The Gentle Ones by Ashe Vernon
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Published on August 15, 2015 23:00
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