Inside/Outside

Inside
I find
A battered soul

Outside
I see
An empty smile

Inside
A battered soul
A galley of hurts

Outside
An empty smile
A weave of lies

Inside
A galley of hurts
A wounded heart still beating

Outside
A weave of lies
An aura of false hope

Inside
A wounded heart still beating
A love that does not quit

Outside
An aura of false hope
The one who does not know

Inside
A love that does not quit
A clutched image like an unsurrendered dream

Outside
The one who does not know
Only sees what they want to vision

Inside
A clutched image like an unsurrendered dream
The stubborn will that will not let go

Outside
Only sees what they want to vision
A smiling image that reveals the reluctant clown

Inside
The stubborn will that will not let go
The secret doubts that eat away at every prayer

Outside
A smiling image that reveals the reluctant clown
A misty look that peers past me into ether

Inside
The secret doubts that eat away at every prayer
An abyss of loneliness that betrays every hope I've had

Outside
A misty look that peers past me into the ether
An attitude tells me I might as well be invisible


Inside is a fading, bitter dream

Outside is a distant, shimmering mirage

In side
Out side
No side