Performance Not Required

Hold my dreams and screams within
behind a silver screen
disguised by a smile:
the worldly me.
A performance destined
for an Oscar nomination
or obscurity.

We're all actors
or actresses
on this stage called Earth
in the theatre of God's amusement
in the West End of the galaxy

acting cocky,
acting blasé,
acting confident,
acting brave;
stage fright suppressed
along with so much else.

Sometimes as we sweat in our costumes
the spotlight becomes like the desert sun.
Sometimes acting becomes a chore
and we ache for something more.

We're all strangers
but there's no strangeness
like the strange solitude
we carry inside.

We're all strangers searching,
watching our fellow thespians,
waiting for the special ones to come.

The ones who will tear away our masks,
see the truth beneath and not recoil
but love us for who we really are
despite our imperfections;

the ones with whom
a performance is not required,
the ones from whom
we don't have to hide;

the ones who take mere friendship
and make of it a priceless treasure
expanding it with words and actions
straight from the heart,
forming lasting connections
between their souls and ours.

When the special ones appear
do not deny them
or take them for granted
for they are very few.

Allow them to be who they are
as they allow you.
Return their love in kind
and you'll be special too.