Just for a Moment

Could I have you for a moment?

Alone.

Just you,

without the sugar frosting,

candy coating,

fake confection outer layer,

so sweet

and so unlike what's inside:

messy,

prickly,

complicated,

sometimes wrong

and often hard to deal with,

but always

real.

I would only need a minute,

plastic wrapping shredded

on the floor,

beside the masks and feathers,

colored spangles,

cellophane,

and all the other

little things

that make you

easy to like,

hard to know,

despicable caricature

of an honest man.

I only want to hear one word,

genuine,

unscripted,

even if it's hateful,

hurtful,

angry,

full of pain.

Pain is real,

and if you feel life's sting

through foam padding

and phony smiles,

then maybe you can feel

this one thing, too:

my touch upon your hand,

reassurance

that somewhere on the inside,
in this moment,

you're okay.

This is a Sunday Scribblings post.