The Act of Playing Small

She was gifted with
A razor sharp mind
Capable of grasping
Complex concepts
With apparent ease,
But she had learned
To repress that gift
As a child.
It must have been
Around second grade
When she noticed
That the other children
Seemed to resent
Her being so smart.
In order to fit in,
She learned the art
Of playing small,
Of pretending
To be ordinary.
Her brilliance
Would often show through
In flashes of inspiration,
Or stunning insights,
But she had a way
Of diminished the power
Of anything she said or did
By the words that followed.
It was an act
She carried with her
For close to forty years.