if i die before i'm strong enough to come out to them, i want them to know i died believing they would never love me.
if they find out who i am only after i'm gone, i want them to know that, no, they never knew me. i want them to know that my Self was a secret i took to my grave.
i want them to know my decision to hide was not a solitary event. i want them to know it was a decision made every day, again and again. i want them to know that it hurt, that it was a fresh old wound re-opened every time they spoke. i want them to know that wound never even had the time to scar.
i want them to know that every second in their company was spent calculating if i could come out of hiding yet. i want them to know i was heartbroken every time i realized i couldn't. i want them to know i felt stupid for even daring to hope.
i want them to know i don't trust them with the burial of my body.
i want them to know that i see them burying me under someone else's name. i want them to know that i hear that name their pastor calls me through the walls of my casket. i want them to know i can still taste my own name on the tip of my tongue, a name they will never hear from me. i want them to know that the clothes they buried me in burn like the hellfire they think i'm damned to. i want them to know that i died long before i stopped breathing. i want them to know I was buried alive.
i want them to know i had good reason to be scared. i want them to realize that i heard the way they talked about people just like me. i want them to realize that my fear was based in their actions and words. i want them to realize that i'm not the only one they've made afraid. i want them to change, even knowing they won't.
i want them to know i understand. i want them to know that, yes, i know they meant well. i want them to know i don't resent them. well, maybe a little, but i can't rationally imagine things having gone any other way.
i want them to know i empathize with their confusion, that i know how difficult it can be to understand. i want them to know that even understanding that, i couldn't bear to be the one to show them. Not after all the parts of me i've subjected to their scrutiny.
i want them to know that i saw the kind of "love" they would offer to someone like me, and i didn't want it. I don't want it. I want them to know that i chose choking on my secrets to a "love" like that.
if i die before i'm "strong enough" to come out to them, i want them to know i died believing they would never love Me.
if i ever do come out, i hope it won't be because i'm "strong enough" to do so. i hope when i come out, it's because they're strong enough to Love Me anyway.