If there came a knock on the door
I hid
If company came
You probally could find me
Behind the bedroom door
Listening to see who was there
If it was someone I knew
I would come out
Listening quietly
Not talking

"Cat got your tongue?"
The grownups would ask
Didn't understand their reasoning
For such a question as that
"She's just a little shy"
Mother would say,
"Give her some time
Then you'll be telling her
To shut up!"

Honestly, I liked people
Just believed the old saying
I was drilled into believing
Children should be seen
And not heard
No one 'cept Grandma
Every acted like
They were interested
In the things that mattered
To small little girls

After awhile I got quite
A reputation
Of being that shy kid
That no one ever really knew
So they poked fun at her
Trying to get her to stir
But instead
I went deeper into myself
Crying to get out
Not knowing how,
More miserable I became

My reputation
Became a burden
As I grew older
I longed to break out
Of my shell of shyness
What would my clasroom peers think,
If I came bursting from my shell?
Being in the limelight
Was not my intentions.

I just wanted to be known
And liked for what was inside of me
Not hidden away
For no one to see or know

It took a lot of years
To peak my head out of my shell
And walk around with it held upright
I may never be nothing more than
A wallflower at a party
But I have plenty to say
If you are willing to just listen..