Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Can I tell my story

  without telling

  part of yours?

  Do I have the right

  to broadcast

  the secrets

  that we shared?

  If I loved you,

  I’d keep silent.

  The love I believed in

  was just a belief.

  Never real,

  never true,

  yet—

  still worthy

  of my silence.

  * This poem was inspired by a tell all book a celebrity put out. Shared secrets spilled...and it made me think about how crappy I have felt when something I said in private became public. Or, something I said got twisted beyond my intentional meaning. It also made me realize how vulnerable we are when we share our own stories. I don't want to to leak secrets that hurt others, but I have at times because perfection is unobtainable in this life. Some secrets do need to be told, but others do not. When I write, even when what I write isn't about me, it still is driven by my personal experience and my encounters with others.