Me

You sit beside me
     and do not know me.
Few people are allowed glimpses
     behind the mask I wear for the world.

Pain made me put up walls,
     choosing my friends carefully.
There is a door in the wall
     through only a few may pass.

I have many sides to me
     and most are never seen by others.
Child and adult,
     teacher and student.
Dignified and goofy,
     sage and comedian.

There are many more
     sides to my soul.
And they appear in different levels
     at different degrees of intensity.

My soul has chosen its companions
     and then shut the door.
Few are trusted with my secret selves
     and so it shall remain.