I Seem to Have Lost My Secret Decoder Ring...

 

We write our thoughts in metaphor

dispense our feelings cryptically

never saying what we mean

but ever meaning what we say.

Our words are chosen carefully

extrapolated to define­,

and quite specific by design.

We create their shape and form,

and mold them in our minds like clay,

while the reader’s left to ponder:

“What then does the author mean?”

“Did they write with me in mind?”

 

I’ve written about joys and loss,

I’ve cleared the air on many things—

the scope of trials and their cost

emotions that have sent me reeling;

hidden secrets, hidden feelings…

And I have pondered much the same

when reading words of someone else…

when, for better or for worse,

like some beleaguered confidante

they stir connection left unspoken     

  then wait to measure my response.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

We all paint in metaphor

 in hidden codes and cryptograms:

 ever watchful what we say,

  lest we give too much  away

© Ginny Brannan 2021

I read a poem the other day and while I'm not self-absorbed enough to think it had anything to do with me, it got me thinking the about the stuff we'll never really know.