Secret Sadness

by John Herlihy

Some sadnesses exist that other people will never know,

The hidden sadness that upon gentle breezes did blow.

A sadness that feels comfortable like an imaginary friend,

A sadness that stays with you until the very end.

We live with certain sadnesses that come and go,

Feelings of sadness that we want everyone to know.

A well-worn sadness having lost its piercing pain,

Sadness one must live with as a mist akin to rain.

The sadness of poverty, the sadness of things lost,

All the many sadnesses that feel like winter frost.

All these sadnesses that sit easily upon the tongue,

Sadness that we whisper into the ears of everyone.

Still one sadness I live with that I could never tell,

Sadness, if spoken, would echo resoundingly as a bell.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 17 May 2025