The Pearl in the Sand

Your eyes play hide-and-seek with mine

as you slip back into class

hoping no one notices,

praying you will be left alone.

You know I know.

I know you know.

Your heavy eyes hold mine

for an eternal moment.

until your gaze is sucked to the floor

by the force of your failure,

a gravitational pull

constraining your eyes,

        restricting your vision,

                confining your view

to below.

Below the laughter and the smiles,

beneath shared jokes and common experiences,

You hide

believing

you are truly beneath them.

Stripped of your self-worth,

You continue to meet their expectations.

You fail again

        and again

                  and again

until someone notices

the pearl in the sand.

SLPD   5/6/2016