Amnesty

I find it easier to talk to a stranger

than anyone I know,

they know nothing about me

and can’t judge me so.

I can pretend I am happy,

and my life is on course,

they have no idea of

my despair and its source.

While I am in their company

it allows me to forget

until they bid me farewell

and then I fill with regret.

For then I know I must return

to my inner battles and their reality

and then try and find

some way to declare an amnesty.