-- Some Things We Never Say –

John Herlihy

For all of our ability to communicate,

Some things we simply never say aloud.

We ponder, we live in dread, we ruminate,

Certain things stay in our heads in a cloud.

We never say we cannot do something,

We procrastinate, leave things undone.

We pretend to have the powers of a king,

But to admit to fear or failure, we shun.

There you have it, do we say I am afraid?

All of family and friends to know and see.

The scales of truth-telling heavily weighed,

What I don’t say would betray the real me.

We set out to do something meaningful,

Conduct a meeting, give an effective speech.

What happened but it turned out to be awful,

But to admit this would be beyond my reach.

Without admitting it, some things never happen,

To stay young, live forever, never make a mistake.

Why speak of things that lie beyond our reckon,

Far better to all those impossible things forsake.

It happens, we may never speak of a love aloud,

The emotion so intense, we fear being betrayed.

Imagine speaking openly of love, feeling proud,

Rudely brushed aside, our tender emotions waylaid.

Some things never spoken lest they come true ,

Giving voice to an unknown future and its fears.

Wishing someone dead, a friend once we knew,

Possibility of a sorrow that can only bring tears.

What about those dark thoughts of despair,

Inside a bottomless well no one must know.

We may even be reluctant to turn to prayer,

Intimate pleas even to God we never bestow

Suicide wins as the ultimate unmentionable,

Only the written note, afterwards, to suffice.

An act, and therefore its word, unpardonable,

A word that bears with it far too high a price.

Finally, a truth about oneself never to reveal,

Its ugly face carved into a hard block of wood.

A secret of oneself you must always conceal,

Lest the revelation never be rightly understood.

And so, certain things we never say left unsaid,

Deaf and dumb there in the heart, with no voice.

Meanwhile, the heart continues to beat until bled,

Certain things remain silent with no other choice.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Friday 25 February 2022