proximity… and time…
these are all that is needed to slowly melt your guard, your natural attenuation, that gut feeling on an initial meeting, certainly you don’t want to be judgmental, books and covers and all that, plus past misreads and failures, but sometimes, these primal lines, these inklings, the eye test of I, are right, but you let things slide, perhaps for the benefit of loved ones, you ignore your basic base instincts of initial apprehension or suspicion, and over time, a threat, a beast, lingers, lurks, at a subconscious level you are aware, but time, the sands, the mirage, after all, takes hold, slowly melting away your portcullis, exposing your inner courtyard for siege, and a threat prowls, circles, but accustomed to the menace you have become, and perhaps the trap will never be sprung, inner dialog confirms as such, the lies we tell ourselves are the most damaging to the self, then that day comes, smiles become fangs unsheathed in the darkness, just slightly provoked ill will comes toward you with brutal force from your clear blind spot, the robe is lifted to reveal the truth, a truth you knew but denied, to be kind, or accommodating, to give a chance when you knew where this path will lead, indeed, the bite, at first feels unexpected, the shock, the awe, how could this happen, but the sting does not lay long before the admission, you are the victim of your own attrition, letting your walls mortared with experience fall, your inner sense infected to no defense, yes, perhaps next go ’round you’ll learn the lesson, and trust your self, your instincts, what you know in a sniff, a listen, an examination, yes, worse than that bite is this (realization).