A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

Have you heard someone say

“she knows me better

than I know myself”

and thought that was impossible

because you knew

all your own deepest darkest thoughts

and you knew

that no one was getting

anywhere near them

(imagine how unsafe

that would be, and what 

they would think)?

And yet you

read between my lines

and translate the words

that no one else hears

in my silences,

and sometimes interpret them for me

in ways I hadn’t even imagined,

drawing out my pain

with gentle coaxing,

calling out my bullshit

with sometimes less-than-gentle honesty

revealing pieces I’d hidden

from even myself

and somehow

through it all you remain

safe