Dead Inside

A Poem

I don’t know why it’s so much easier for me to emote here, on this screen To an audience of veritable strangers yielding more than those who try to get close

Maybe it’s because I’m uncomfortable, in general, with a certain kind of closeness One that comes with certain directives or qualifications or road markers

Or maybe I’m just selfish with my emotions and it’s easier to play dead than to risk getting killed A game of cops and robbers with no heart to steal

I’ve heard it before, that I am dead inside and sometimes I believe it especially when I have no reaction when I hear it another reminder of all I’ve lost

I don’t know if I’m misunderstood I could be as rigid as they say or I could just be the broken wing on the bird that can’t fly

It’s hard to rationalize the dichotomy between the darkness that I can emit and the light that I feel, deep down I don’t know if I am dead inside

© Jonathan Greene 2020

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