Terrified to Be Known

And you feel this too, don't you?
Sometimes when you meet someone new...
You freeze up, your eyes fall anywhere but theirs.
Everything gets loud and you don't know why.
You stand there, lost inside your head,
With everything to say, and not a word instead.

What if you stayed and saw the parts I hide so well?
What if the truth is louder than the lies I tell?

Maybe you're terrified of being known,
Of someone loving what you hide the most.
You keep it light, you keep it safe, you keep it thin,
Praying no one asks about the parts buried within...
But underneath it all, you're begging to be seen,
Every smile you fake, every truth you swallow whole.
Terrified they'll stay when you stop hiding...
Terrified they'll leave... if they don't.

You rehearse the answers days before you say a word,
You count the steps between the door and being heard.
You check your phone so your hands have somewhere safe to hide,
And pray nobody sees you’re shaking deep inside.

What if they stay... and love the real one too?
Maybe that's the loneliest thing—
Being seen, but never truly known,
Being loved for someone you had to become.

Maybe you're terrified of being known,
Of someone finding out you're not as strong.
You keep it light, you keep it safe, you keep it thin,
Praying no one asks about the parts buried within.
But underneath it all, you're begging to be seen,
Breaking in places nobody can see,
Terrified they'll stay the second that they know your soul.

And you feel this too, don't you?
... Terrified to be known.