The closet it locked to protect its inner from other people, and so is my heart.
The key is worn around my neck against my body. I will have to be touched before the key is relinquished.
All the "good" clothes hang front and center, for all to see. Easily reachable so that I can pick and choose them according to how I want people to see me on a specific day.
The thick skinned leather jacket is there to protect me from my environment. It has been worn on sunny days even when it didn't make sense, rationalized by a feeling of better safe than sorry. It is the most uncomfortable pieces, yet I wear them with pride in public and remove them as soon as I return to the sanctuary of home.
The shelf with all the dirty laundry is crammed full, and sometimes it forces the closet open and spills its embarrassing contents on the floor. I rush to stuff it all back, before anyone can see it. I don't deal with it, or even attempt to clean it. I have given up on those items, yet I can't throw them out.
A bag stands on the foundation board of the closet, filled with the past: love letters, pictures, teddy bears, poems of promises unfulfilled including an engagement and a wedding ring. I hate looking at what is in the bag, yet I am drawn to it at the same time. It is the biggest item in my closet and the first thing I see when I open it.
The comfortable clothes are hidden away, not seen by anyone. They have some holes, are washed out and I believe they are not fit for the public catwalk, so I wear them to bed. Comforting me during my period of rest and relieving me of the weariness and hurt of the day caused by wearing the tight and restrictive clothing I believe others want to see me wear.
I look at the topmost part of my closet. It is difficult to reach as the shelf of dirty laundry is to full to let me stand on it. The contents at the top are obscured by heavy blankets I dare not remove for fear that they might fall on me.
Behind those blankets are various things I cannot reach. My family bible is up there, joined by my university text books. I have a world map up there with locations chosen, yet the chosen red dots overwhelm the few pins that show places I have been. A diamond in a box, yet it is not on a ring as I don't know the size it should be. I have a family picture frame, but it remains void of loved ones.
I see my life in the closet, the suppressed emotions and issues crammed into a shelf to be forgotten. The facades, masks and costumes that are closet at hand for me to wear just to fit in with society and not be rejected. The comfortable clothes, the real me, hidden behind the masks, coming out only when I am alone. The baggage I cannot get rid of, inviting me with good memories to look inside yet leaving me hurt and angry when I do. The unobtainable desires right at the top. Unreachable and left as is, only because I cannot use the full and unsorted shelf at the bottom as steps to it.
Yes I am in my closet, but where better a place to be to start cleaning it out.