I’ve Been There (For “Colored” Girls)
I’ve Been There (For “Colored” Girls)

I’ve Been There (For “Colored” Girls)

I’ve been to the wall.

I saw you there

face pressed up against it like

a nose to that glass

that glass

that keeps you out

that glass that keeps you in

the nose

squashed flat against it

eyes

boggled

as to why you can’t get past it

why

you stay there

pressed

flat

standing straight up

but ain’t moving.

I’ve been there

I’ve seen your

tears

the tears that want to come

but don’t

that heart

that wants to break

but won’t

I’ve been there

I’ve seen

that hurt

that pain

that awefulness

that comes from

loving

and not being

loved

back

not

the way you want to.

I’ve been there

watching you

standing in the rain

that won’t stop falling

no rainbows

at the end

just rain

for days,

weeks

hours

that don’t end.

I’ve been there

right there with you

when you thought I wasn’t

I was there with you

holding you up

pushing you on

beyond

where you stood

helping you

stand

hoping you’d see

through the glass

to me.

Hoping those tears you cried

would cleanse your sight

hoping that pain you felt

would make you all right

open you up

to it

that truth

you keep missing

that I keep telling

whispering

yelling

in your closed ears.

eventually

when the pain goes

when the tears stop

when the glass breaks

you’ll see it

the truth

about it all.

It seems so real at the time

but it’s an illusion.

all of it.

A ghost.

A trick

your mind plays

because it thinks it needs it

the drama

created

based on lifetimes

of filling voids

with stuff

you create

when you don’t know

that you DO know.

I’ve been there

through it all with you

as I am now

and will be

when you finally see

the truth.

Remove

your face from the wall

stop pressing your nose to it

like that glass

step back

breath a bit

and realize

it

 

the truth.

 

There is no wall.

there is only

you.

 

love.

 

and I am

wherever you are

always were

always will

BE.

That’s the truth.

I know

because

I’ve been there.

I am there.

right there

with you.

Because I am you.

love.

-e-