I'm hurting. <br />And all I am expected to show for it, <br />Is a stiff upper lip. <br />And unknown courage. <br />Only I know exists. <br /> <br />As if I keep a faucet inside. <br />To decide to turn off and on at will. <br />Or desert how I feel! <br />To isolate... <br />And leave abandoned. <br />Until it dies. <br />Or until I smother it to kill. <br /> <br />Like a common well that has dried up, <br />Either from lack of use... <br />Or the need of it has gone. <br />From a contamination, <br />That has gone on for too long! <br /> <br />I feel diminished. <br />Finished. <br />Left to wither and die. <br />Forgotten for the attempts I've tried! <br />To keep together... <br />What has now been brushed aside. <br />Regardless of an existence, <br />I showed with pride and caring! <br />For a relationship shared... <br />That has slipped away. <br /> <br />I'm hurting! <br />And I find I am admitting that! <br />But to whom? <br />This wound inside that afflicts me, <br />Is mine. <br />Not to share. <br />No one but I know, <br />The history that is there. <br /> <br />And if I could... <br />Would the sting of it be transferred? <br />With the pain that sits on my every nerve? <br />No! <br />I know that. <br />And even if I could... <br />With tears to deliver, <br />How and what I feel... <br />With this depth. <br />Would still leave me... <br />The one out of breath. <br />And out of my mind with this sorrow. <br /> <br />I would not wish this on anyone. <br />Not to be dismissed in the way I have been! <br />Not today or anytime. <br />Not in anyone's tomorrows. <br /> <br />I am hurting! <br />And it is mine alone. <br />To comfort or ignore... <br />Or dare to bare to show exposed. <br />Since of this no one hears, <br />Or care to know! <br />I'm hurting. <br />And I feel it is not deserved!<br /><br />Lawrence S. Pertillar<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-hurting-2/
