Facing the Fire

Your manhood

is no kept secret,
yet the man behind it
is seldom revealed.

Maybe only
a figment
of a rejected past
you still drool over—

If in fact
it is concealed,

From the inception
I saw your fire,
yet walked into
your naked flame.

If you can't
smell the smoke
that engulfs 

you,

logic says
deny the pain.

This dysfunction,
by will or nurture,
is peril

to escape.

If the yard
is burning,
Must one
enter the house

to
suffocate.

Copyright©2026 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

A Path Chosen

A Path
That is chosen,
yet one that parts.

Cross-dressing the truth
to parade the deception
of lies.

So well dressed,
yet so naked
to the twisted perceptions
of man.

So placid
to the old,
foul mouth
of woman.

Yet invisible
to the eye,
the coldest heart,
the unkind soul.

Lost
to the accolades of man,
and the surrender
of any voice

that treats the truth
with scorn-

An undaunted privilege,

granted even 

to the most callous of beings

Copyright©2026 by Camille Caliscia Patrick