Kindred

poem about repressing emotions

 Kindred

 

I know you

though I just met you

I watched your reaction

that glint in your eye before you looked down

followed by the beaming smile and willing hand

 

You are like me

fine but not

reserved and outspoken

lost in a whorl of unexpressed emotion

comfort and stillness of mind our goal

 

You are so pleasant

so solid

dependable and easy going

the mask donned and ready for widespread approval

no one would guess

 

You may not have awareness

Maybe it hasn't hit you yet

when it arrives it comes like a flood water

there isn't a bucket big enough to bail

but we know how to build dams

 

Genuine feats of engineering

litter our subconscious

dams wide and high

with locations secret from ourselves

almost forgotten

 

We plug the dyke

when leaks are few and slow

again and again until the architecture

is immense and unstable

joy, tears, anger and fears secured behind these walls

until they aren't

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

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