Tenderness Trap

Tenderness is thick as honey,

sticky, gooey, and tough to

get out of. To show a little tenderness

is to display the most delicate

part of yourself to someone else.

Your underbelly; soft, supple,

and vulnerable. Exposed like

a raw nerve to the potential

hazards tenderness can create.

The trust tenderness imbues.

Tenderness; open to the elements,

to the brambles, barbs and porcupine

spines of mistrust, confusion and love

unrequited. A leap of faith in which

we hope our soft underbelly emerges unscathed.

Scarred tenderness; mutilated by silence,

indecision, carelessness, and abuse of

honesty, makes us recoil at the thought

of ever trusting another person to see

the rawness of our vulnerability.

We are stuck in the goo of it ourselves

when we are thoughtless with the tenderness

of others, though inaction, inattention, or

a general malaise. We cause the harm we so

desperately wish to avoid, trapped in the stickiness.

We pray that the right someone will see our tenderness,

our doughy underbelly and not jab at it with lies,

disingenuous designs or blatant stupidity. But rather,

caress and softly run their hand over the delicate parts,

gently cooing, “it’s all right, it’s all okay now.”

We want the honey of our two tenderness’s to

become mixed, a substance that nourishes us

both, rather than become a sticky trap of

which there is no escape. A royal jelly of

delight and inclusion, communication, and

genuine trust.  Something sweet to sustain.