Back to the Shell

They tell you to be vulnerable but they don't mean it
They tell you you're only as sick as your secrets
They tell you your walls are keeping the good out
They tell you nothing you did or say will scare them away

So you let your guard down little by little
Reveal the things you've done or had done to you
So much in the past it shouldn't matter anymore anyway
But then it turns out there's no such thing as past crimes

Suddenly what made you intriguing and interesting
What made you worldly and wise
What made you daring and different
Ends up being nothing but your disease

The good things you say and do don't matter
Because long ago and far away you were someone else
That heart you guarded so preciously until now
Is smashed to pieces and left on the floor

Because while you were being open and vulnerable
A case was being made against you
Evidence from long ago, circumstantial and real
Used to distort the person you'd become into something unrecognizable

Now it's back to the shell
Because as dark as it is in here
It beats stepping out into the sun
Only to have it go away