Long sleeves to hide my balled up fists,
Pockets to hide my secrets,
Deep hood to mask my eyes,
And draw strings to veil the rest,

You may not know it,
But I can hear you,
Even with my ears covered.
“She’s hiding something”,
“She must have had a dark past”.


But you’re wrong,
My past was luminous,
My future,
Even brighter,

No matter what you think,
I don’t wear it to be deceiving,
Or block the sunlight out.
I use it to try and keep me warm from the frozen glares;
To keep me dry from the downpour of judging words,
All trying to extinguish my flame,
And no matter what you think,
I am not sheltering my light,
But making sure not to burn those that have been in the dark so long,

So when you see a hoodie,
Don’t think deceit,
Think light, courage, warmth,
For those who judge don’t know how deep their words could penetrate the fabric,
Leaving behind a fowl scent of hate,
Beating those of us down and flickering our flames,
Till there is nothing left,
But an empty hoodie and melted wax.