Within yourself

I hope people comprehend this the way I am saying it.

When you think of something 

you want to do

Yet you know it is wrong

you do it with a rue

It has some pain 

that no one knows

you won't gain

anything that goes

the act on your arm

you didn't think you did any harm

People now see

You will pay that fee

The remorse the creeps inside of me

Withering away

knowing that I can't stay

Withering away

now forced at bay

Reviews

[tanmay7551]

Looks like a condition of a leaf drying away in heat. Heat is the condition that has forced the leaf to lose it's green fresh state to a dry state where it is waiting to be crushed.

Good choice of words in your writing.

[D Connolly]

I can definitely relate to doing things that are wrong. You've expressed some very real and painful feelings here. One suggestion; "you do it with a rue" doesn't sound right to me. I think the "you do it with rue", leaving out the "a" would make more sense. I think the standard definition of "rue" is to bitterly regret (an action), so the word is right, but to leave "a" in there would essentially say "you do it with a bitterly regret". That's how I'm reading it. As always, you've done very well expressing your pain and giving a voice to the regret of our actions that some of us would prefer to keep a secret.

[William Liston]

This may not be what you intended, but I interpreted this as a character speaking of self-harm. The line "the act on your arm" kinda hints at that...

Anyways, I liked how this piece refers to something specific, yet can be applied to virtually any difficult situation. Whenever someone does something that he or she acknowledges as wrong, a feeling of regret or remorse usually follows. There is, as you've described, "some pain that no one knows." I liked the line "you will pay that fee" ... it was a good way of describing how our deeds can haunt us in the future.

The last stanza topped everything off ... it was especially melancholic with its repetition of the phrase "Withering away."

- William Liston

[Rebecca Garber]

I really appreciate you responding to my poem. It is the first I have put on here in awhile. So thank you. Yes that was what I was referring to. I had self harmed and I had regret and remorse for it. That is why I typed it out. I am glad others see how it can refer to other things but you hit it on the dot. So great job. Thanks for the compliments.