A Lesser Grief

One of my favorites. It was originally inspired by a particular person, but soon developed beyond that as I recognized that this is a widely occurring condition.

One of the first people I showed it to told me that this poem could very easily be pegged in the Victorian era, when this sort of sentiment would be the widely conveyed one. Nowadays, that is not so. We're all about speaking our mind, yet we hide so much.

"A Lesser Grief"

I am afraid of the unknown,
Of what words unsaid might say.
What murmurings of the mind
So fearfully withheld may do:
Doom could be dispensed
As pensiveness runs free.

I too fear, thy dear opinion kept
Leaves worst to grasp, I pine.
My thoughts stay here
As thine are there.
Wherefore we hide the truth,
For fear of the unknown?

What dared we've to disclose
Is just enough to bluff the heart,
To set the mind a-foolish-flutter
And clutter reason over-much.
Our subtle sleuths do thrive,
Alive subconscious.

The words restrained
Leave chance for wound unmeant.
An arrow from bow bent
In plain sight's view does leave
A lesser grief than blow
Unknown from friend.

Truth indeed does clear the air,
Wherefore then content are we,
Coexistent in a cloud?
To stay ourselves, our aim,
Maintain the status quo;
Obscure the truth and cure a shift.

Any revolution for us yet,
Our paths and hearts are set against it,
Content in current state,
Yet discontent does rage inside,
As fear does fill the flesh,
I am afraid of the unknown.