The Poetry of the Socially Anxious #2

I lived in the shadows,
most of my life

Not the dark corners,
where,
drug dealers
and convicts hide,
just those grayish areas
where you'd rather remain,
unseen

Not out of loneliness,
friends were always
by the handful,
nor lack of agenda,
life goals fill an expandable
notebook buried
deep in the shadows,
unknown

An embarrassment,
perhaps,
at unintelligible chatter,
being translated by the
naked ear as me, with an IQ
much lower than accurate,
true knowledge, unseen

Yes, but then,
shadows became
maddening, and true self
tried to win,
standing in the light,
standing out,
meeting so many new faces
shrouded by too much sunlight
that
it's hard to remain in the light
unseen