storyteller’s sin [poem]

I keep writing you poetry
explanations and warnings and wishes
scribbled into being
with carefully cultivated words
be clever love
consider this my smoke screen
a diversionary tactic with extreme success
you know
I’ve always used my own mythology to hide myself
history waving a red flag to catch your eye
I will gorge you on my past
until you’re too full of the stories to think
of any deeper questions to ask
you’ll know the shadows that haunted me a decade ago
but you won’t know my present struggles if I have any say
it’s the storyteller’s sin
hiding truths beneath truths in an elaborate attempt
to be your well known mystery
it takes a special kind of focus to study my memories
and come out familiar with my heart