perhaps it is safer by Linda Crate

i want to tell the truth,
honesty is the best
policy;
but i am terrified
of revealing who i am
because what if that means
rejection?

people say those who matter
won’t mind, but what if they do?

my mother twice told me
“you better not be a lesbian”,
how do i tell her that i am pan?
i want to be proud of who i am,
but i am also terrified;

perhaps it is safer
to hide in this closet—

but a comfort place is no place for me
to grow, and i want to bloom into
the most beautiful flower
i can be.

Linda M. Crate’s works have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies both online and in print. She is the author of six poetry chapbooks, the latest of which is: More Than Bone Music (Clare Songbirds Publishing House, March 2019). She’s also the author of the novel Phoenix Tears (Czykmate Books, June 2018). Recently she has published two full-length poetry collections Vampire Daughter (Dark Gatekeeper Gaming, February 2020) and The Sweetest Blood (Cyberwit, February 2020).