Conflicts of Emotion

Conflicts of Emotion

We withdraw to the silence of hurt

and there create hurt silence;

in which we mire.

Sucked into the bog of negative emotions

we fester as our flesh sags

in waterlogged saline scalds and becomes

wrinkled with the frown of bewildered,

confused, anxious fear.

And that fear to us is just!

Fear of more hurt, rejection, animosity;

we want to avoid acrimony, the bitter taste

of enmity and the rancid stench of rancour.

We fear the slinging of hostile,

clay like mud,

that sticks to us like dog dirt on hiking boots.

So we avoid the firing line, stay low,

stay safe in our sulking bunker,

where we tell ourselves

we are the victim of injustice,

and gather our supporters and troops

in a protective shroud

around our guilt,

as we lob the grenades

of misplaced grief

at our tormentors.

 

14/12/16

Reviews

[andrew mitchell]

Powerful write John, the imagery is almost rancid but with a sliver of hope.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Hi Andrew many thanks. Still trying to free up enough time to spend more time reviewing although I have read a few of your pieces over the past few months and as always appreciate the humour,

[andrew mitchell]

Lolol thanks John :-)

[Tony Jordan]

Life is a series of missions in a way. I think i read once that any mission needs certain specifics in order to not implode in on itself - one is a defined objective (if I remember right).
In the state of mind of the speaker there is no way any mission would succeed.
Very well conveyed feels and excellently deployed metaphors John.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Many thanks Tony for such a considered review.

[Ayvid N]

So true especially as we grow older, we tend to grow more insecure yet more self-righteous and judgemental. Our ego battles become more covert and sophisticated and in that more deadly to relationships. Much hostility lurks under the bland, suffering visage. Missed your poetry a lot. Its amazing as always.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you kind poetess!

[Ayvid N]

You are welcome

[Einstein Noodle]

man! so brutally honest and psycho
logically true ... can really make ourselves sick with it .. physically ... i think there could be more emphasis on emotional health in middle and high school ..as patterns learned there can be difficult to change ..this is a marvelous poem ..flows like the river and gripped me personally the whole way through .. hurt turned in ..and its consequences ..closing is like tough love .. we can be tempted easily to strike out at others in such a state .. well done says i!
E.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you Einstein.