The First Time

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"When someone shows you who they are,
believe them." 

I'll try. 

Believe them the first time,
before an accumulation of words
or glances
offerings and
reactions—
retractions 
or silence. 

I'll try. 

But what about trust? 

Projection can be a weapon
unfair and blind
but so can trust. 
So, what do we do with trust?

We've been told:
trust but verify
give to get 
extend until there is a reason

not 
to. 

Surely, to give is to offer your 
vulnerability
to open with an invitation to see—
the world through safety
and people through intimacy. 

Exhale.

But what if they stab—
not with iron but with 
words
or quiet
or gossip
or lies? 

A lesson
wrapped in the progression
of choosing to trust and learning
wisdom. 

And what of the mirror? 
Is it still true that we are 
who we are
every time? 
The first time?

Time here is brief. 
Experience anything
and you'll see—
they and
you and
we 
can be the same 
the first time,
the second time,
and again until the end,
or

we
and you
and me
can become. 

So, believe who they are
but be gentle, too. 
They can change.

So can you.

—Iris Lennox