Tom's Honour

We hide our fears, my family and I,
Behind a mask that limits and protects.
Much safer to conceal, and be alone,
Than hope for love, and risk our everything.
So even then, adrift, prepared to die,
Excused by suffocation's ill effects,
I dared not hope to claim her for my own,
But joked, and hid away my suffering.

Her honesty ashamed me, I confess,
I saw my fear reflected in her eyes
And realised honour must be satisfied.
Though lost for words, I told her nonetheless,
Rejection risked, and - wonderful surprise - 
Dispelled the fear I masked myself to hide.