beneath the hoodie

The sun blazes down, relentless and bright but I pull on my hoodie clinging tight But so does my fear. A shield from the gazes I don't want to hear They wonder why I hide away, why I don't let the summer have its say But they don't feel the sting of eyes or hear the cruel unspoken Lies. My friends, they laugh, they joke, they tease But their words bite harder than the breeze Each comment a bruise, each joke, a scar, Remind me of what I am, what they are "it's just a joke" they say with ease as I suffocate in this summer heat But they don't see it! They don't see the damage done, or the war within that They've began Society shout, demanding perfection, And my friends echo back the same rejection. They dont see how their words replay, in my mind, day after day. So I cover up, though the air is thick hiding parts of me they pick, The hoodie becomes my second skin, a barrier in the world I'm in Each drop of sweat, each labored breath is better than facing their silent death. For judgments sting far worse than heat, so I hide away, in my cloth retreat I wear the weight of their cruel eyes and the hoodie becomesy best disguise. To them it's just a passing tease but to me it's a wound that never sees to ease.