PRETENDING, A Poem by Deb Guillerault

Aren’t you tired of pretending all the time? I know I am.

I am no longer a child;

Pretending is not a game I want to play anymore.

It’s exhausting, it overshadows everything;

It’s something I have come to abhor.

Aren’t you tired of pretending all the time? I know I am.

I will no longer hide in the corner, covered by other’s perceptions.

Your rules are no longer my guide; my compass lies within me.

My soul wants to be free from the dogma – it wants to sing, to soar.

Accept me for the person I am, not who you want me to be.

Aren’t you tired of pretending all the time? I know I am.

Time to cast off the chains and throw open the curtains.

It’s time to be set free. I have been hiding my light for too long.

The voice I listen to now is mine, not someone else’s.

I know this is my path and I should have been doing it all along.

I’m not pretending anymore.