the words we don’t say
where do they go?
ideas that fall just short of the air
left to die in our heads
I can’t help but feel
in the grand aspect of things
that there’s always so much more
left inside the skull
than ever slides off the tongue
it’s the slowness of talking
the struggle to cut deep
the agony of awkward smiles
our duty-dance with strangers
the painful knowing
that entire universes exist
behind the walls of their eyes
the tragic misunderstanding
between partners too close
whose love-anger-fear
is too dense to believe
too challenging to ever convey
the reality of the heart
is the painful silence
that keeps us at bay
I ache to break through it
let me feast on all that is unspoken
let me see all that you hold deep inside
uncover your darkness
show me the home
where your spirit resides
Garbage Notes:
I think one of the most difficult things for people to do is to express themselves, truly and honestly. Clearly and without pretense.
I’ve always been a pretty reserved person. Despite how much I write. Despite how much I attempt to express myself creatively, it’s still a constant struggle for me to purge all the stuff, all the chaos that is buried deep inside me.
There’s so much going on inside our heads. And we’re probably only aware of a small portion of it. So much goes unsaid. So much never makes it to the ears of an audience. So much never makes it to the page.
What I was trying to express in this piece is that there’s a major source of difficulty that exists between humans—that is the inability to convey our truth, the realness of how we feel, in plain unadulterated language.
We dance around the issues. We hand-wave and bullshit our way through the day. We tell people we’re doing just fine, and we project our best unnatural smiles to cover up the pain that resides in our hearts.
My favorite line in the poem refers to the “duty-dance with strangers” and knowing that an entire universe exists behind another person’s eyes, one you will never have full access to, no matter how hard you try.
Are we forever doomed to misunderstand one another? Because of the silences we’ve become so accustomed to. Because of the words we don’t say.
What hope do we have of breaking through the unspoken? I don’t have the answer… But I end the poem with a plea. An invitation to all those who mean something to me. Allow me to see what you hold deep inside. Show me your home, your darkness—as best you can… show me where your spirit resides.
Franco Amati 2023
What hope do we have of breaking through the unspoken?
.........Courage, curiosity, compassion
Perfection in a poem. I love this part:
“the agony of awkward smiles
our duty-dance with strangers
the painful knowing
that entire universes exist
behind the walls of their eyes
the tragic misunderstanding
between partners too close”