“… come out of the wardrobe, cross the line of the rainbow and be who you want to be!” Dona Onete
After encouraging him to explore his “other side,”
She said, “If you leave me, I will tell about this,
And you will never see your children again.”
And so it began—a desperate life locked
In a wardrobe guarded by a severe overseer.
Each tentative act of self-expression
Quashed in a confused melee of frustration.
He lived an inauthentic life of duplicity under duress,
With progeny held for ransom in
An unending act of passive aggression.
He lives behind a mask—
A promise keeper and provider—
As a pillar of the community,
A propagator of traditional value.
A leader is born in shame,
As he passes judgment on
His fellow sinners and wanderers,
He builds influence and takes on followers
Until his identity cracks,
And the anti-depressants fail
Along with his attempted suicide.
From hospital, he reads the headlines.
Everyone knows his name.
His warden and manipulator is now moot,
So he lifts himself off the pillow
And squares his shoulders
Before facing the inevitable question:
“If you were so miserable,
Why didn’t you leave?”
