By the shark
Date: 13 February 2001

tenderness underneath

my tough exterior fools you
all you see is my coldness
          you do not know me
                 a few bitter poems only scratch
  the surface
      don't judge
            or condemn
                   listen to my story
perhaps you will dredge up some compassion
      or at the very least catch a glimpse
                      into my troubled psyche

my story is like so many other stories
           the human experience
we all have pain in common
            pain and rejection and misunderstanding
    and alienation for a few of us
          those of us who are truly troubled and diseased
                    with misery

I am a bruised idealist
           learning how to be a realist
                love as I hoped it would be
    may never happen for me
            but in the meantime
and when you're lonely
time is so very mean
        I will watch
and wait.
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