I run from the bygones

As if they never existed

But here I am again, eye in eye

With those rare moments of vulnerabilities

Where holding on to a sorrow

Has become a herculean task.

So, instead, I show it off

With a laugh wide open,

And my teeth exude my plight...

The past, precisely ancient...

Looks at me dumb,

For breaking the conventionalism

Of greeting his age old reminiscence

With tears of regrets,

And resting my head on his shoulder.

Instead, I welcome him with a chuckle this time 

I tell him a joke, about him

And he's pissed.

Tired, he falls silent 

After a long chatter about painful encounters

And troubled memories.

So, I let him rest his head

Until he falls asleep

Alongside the chip on my shoulder

That he gifted to my present.

Long overdue,

It's time to put him back in the cage!