Near the Bone

It is life near the bone where it is sweetest.

The external flesh serves as a shell.

We pick. We pull. We mess with our shells.

We try to mask what hides below.

It is near the bone where life is the sweetest.

This is where the truth lies, within

red fluid tumbling over our insides—

the insides of who we are.

Palpable pain lives near the bone.

Our shells fight to conceal this.

To let the best lie untouched.

So cut beneath the perfected shell, do not be afraid.

Expose the tender inside.

And ask yourself,

Why is life near the bone so sweet?

Why don’t we let others see

that underneath we are sweet?

Not just the shell

we make ourselves out to be.

• be yourself
• poem
• poetry
• self confidence