my name, a poem

you never even said my name

you opened my eyes and made me come alive again

after I thought I was too withered to be revived

you gave to me a spark of wonder

and curiosity

and a thirst for things I had never known

but I’ve never heard my name come across your lips

never had it whispered in a moment of passion

never known if it would sound like a song

or a curse

something shifted-

did I open up too far

too fast

did I scare you with my exuberance

I am so tired of living in a shell

closed off from the world

afraid that if I let myself shine

I would blind someone

and they would run away

I’m not sorry

I am so much more now

I don’t want to go back into the emptiness

and the fear

I am so much happier out here 

in the sunlight

but I wish I could have heard you say my name