I'm seeing other men
With new eyes now.
What secrets do these faces hide?
Taking people at face value
Seems a risky business now.
Not the way to go
Any more.

So I watch them.
And I wonder.
And try to work out
How I could have failed to see
What was right before me.

This one has the most wonderful,
Innocent
Blue eyes.
His face open
And guileless
As a baby's.
Surely he has nothing to hide.
Has he?

And that one looks so gentle
And kind.
See how he treats
His wife and child.
But I've been fooled by that
Before.
What lives behind his eyes?

And Macho-man over there,
With the muscle shirt
and can of beer.
Is he really
The yob he seems ~
Loud, vulgar, uncaring?
Or is he, perchance,
Behind that stance,
A thoughtful, loving husband?

It seems they all hide something,
And naivete is deadly.
So with eyes to see
And ears to hear
And intuition in top gear
I'll keep
My wits about me.
 

© 1994, Carmel Pacey Digby

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