<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">IN MY SECRET LIFE</span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">In my secret life, I stand tall,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">And taller, too, as each day goes by.</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">And yet, I also stand alone,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Devoid of touch, or true companionship.</span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">At the same time, it leads me to see</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">There is nothing strange about that.</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">So incredibly much of my life, as a whole,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Is a life lived with no one else around.</span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">In my secret life, I unlock doors of perception,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">And question the foundation of all that you know,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">And smile again and again, in surprise and satisfaction,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">To realize I wasn’t really standing on that ground, anyway.</span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Yet, my secret life precisely does ground me,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Though, it seems, in a land <i class="">so</i> far away, that</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">As yet, there is no available transportation</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">For anyone else to get there,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Or even send a letter, or a message,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Or even make a call.</span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">In my secret life, I am vulnerable to disbelief,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">Sensitive to harshness, yet determined to stand for who I am,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">And to say the words that come out of my mouth.</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">I am vulnerable to yearning, to simple love, and touch,</span></p><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="">And to a generous smile, and curious eye.</span></p><div class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Jon Jackson</span></p></body></html>