don't let them see you

Through secrecy, longing, and the hope for a better future.

Make your way to the back door,
Make sure the lights are out.
You don’t want to wake the dog-
they’ll howl if they catch you in sight.

Bend down, watch your knees,
Hide in the bushes, baby, please.
Don’t get caught�"my freedom’s on the line.

Trust is at stake, and I might not inherit it.
My parents never liked you,
and they’d lose their minds if they saw me touch you.
I hate the way they talk,
as if you’re danger wrapped in beauty-
but I know they’d hunt you with pitchforks and knives.

Honey, don’t go sour if I keep hiding you.
To them, I am a sweet child�"
one who should never be yours.
I wish I could rewrite the story,
make you a hero who saved a frail old lady �"a noble act to win their favor.
"A boy so distrusting, yet with a heart of service."

But that won’t be enough.
I’d have to hatch a better plan.
I’d paint you a martyr�"
the one who walked through fire to prove your heart was clean.
But that tale is too tragic.
I’ll just say you gave your last penny to the poor.

Forgive me if I seem greedy.
I just want you to be mine, as if it was already destined.
Maybe I should wait for the perfect timing �"when at midnight, you’ll wait for me in a getaway car,
while the roads are still misty.

But that won’t happen, because there is no leaving.
My family is powerful; they will find me,
even if I breathe in the seven seas.
No matter �"I will wait for the day
we can both be men in our own right.
Or perhaps - just perhaps- one day, they will borrow my eyes,
and in their gaze, finally behold the love I cradle inside.

Author's Note

The thought awakens me—
how gay couples must prove their love
twice as much, fight twice as hard,
just to be seen as equal,
as devoted, as worthy
as any man and woman in love.