What They Really Mean

Feelings wrap around our hearts and souls

Like green moss and vines on rocks and poles

They squeeze

Yank

Constrict

Suffocate

And suppress

They drag us down and make us cry

Scream in anger, writhe, and lie

Fall to the ground and wish to die

Let only misery meet the eye

They tear our heart and wrench our spirit

Tell us when we don’t want to hear it

Move us closer and closer near it

Making us hate it, making us fear it They grip our heads and pull us down

A debilitating and frightening crown

Despair and anguish a woven gown

Creeping about and haunting this town

They are a scream without a sound

Take no step but move us round

Slam us with a poignant pound

And after all of this, I found

That feelings wrap around our hearts and souls

Like green moss and vines on rocks and poles

They massage

Soothe

Relieve

Comfort

And liberate

They let us say, “This is who I am.”

A gentle embrace, a shepherd’s lamb

Holding us together as would a dam

For without emotion, man is a sham