Half Honest

I said it's fine

But the way my voice bent

At the word

Told more than I meant

I smiled on cue

Teeth aligned

But breath caught

On something unnamed

I offered

The version of me

You're most comfortable with

I know the rhythm

Of what's expected

I hit my marks

Like a script

I pretend I didn't rehearse

But phrasing

Isn't always protection

Half honest

The words pass inspection

But tone betrays them

Half honest

I control the sentence

But not the residue

You heard the part

I thought I'd buried

Under polish

You didn't ask again

You didn't need to

You caught it

In the half-second pause

In the vowel that flattened

In the glance

I didn't send back

I told the truth

Just not the

Most important part

Half honest

No facts missing

Just meaning

Half honest

And somehow

You still saw too much

I should've stayed quiet

But even silence

Has tone