To Emily D.

Here's one from a while back. So few people seem to know who I am writing to here.

To Emily D.

I think I know
in my own faltering way
something of what
you must have felt

sitting in your room
looking out your window
writing your soul onto paper
only to keep it hidden

you had to write
it was in you
demanding freedom
and could not be denied

but just because
the words emerged
into the world
of the everyday

just because they
could not be contained inside
didn’t mean
they were that world’s property

the words were yours
and you kept them hidden
no one had the right
to lay you open to the world

but I’m glad they did


©2003-Art Belliveau