AN ACHING AND A LONGING - Poem

AN ACHING AND A LONGING

In his eyes I see a lost and lonely little boy
Bewildered by life
In his soul I see sadness
An aching and a longing for something he just can’t have
In his heart I see a good person
A person who is trying to make his way in society today
In his mind I see a clever person
Someone who strives to achieve but never quite reaches his goals
He is a man of many disguises
He is a chameleon camouflaging his true feelings under a mask of happiness and clowning around
Under his tough exterior there lies a very disillusioned and lonely man
A man confused by all that life has thrown at him
A man unable to make sense of a world where everything is in chaos
Just when he thought he knew which path his life was taking the rules altered and his destiny changed
Every day is an uphill struggle to be accepted and liked
He hides his true emotions for fear of being exposed as weak and fragile
He is a man and that means acting tough
For him to expose his true self would be like peeling off a layer of his skin
He refuses to let people get that close to him
He is a person who in private seems to relish being all alone
As soon as you try and get close the brick walls and barricades start to go up
He seems afraid to let a stranger become a friend
He seems content to make jokes or sit in silence rather than speak freely and express what is on his mind
He is a sensitive and caring person underneath all of that fooling around
Is it so wrong to let those emotions reveal themselves?
In public he creates a new life for himself everyday in order to escape from his real world
In private he is withdrawn, lost and almost shy
He has got one body, one heart and two totally different personalities
The demands and pressures of the real world are sometimes too much for him to support on his broad shoulders
He has flaws just like the rest of us
He will never be perfect but he can try his best
He is well liked and thrives on attention but only when he is in a crowd
He worries me although it is not my place to worry
I sometimes sit back and try to work out what is going on deep inside
He challenges me, my thoughts and feelings
I feel connected to this man yet very lost and helpless as well
I do my best to break down some of those walls but as soon as I feel that I am starting to make progress they start to go up again
I ask myself ‘What is he afraid I might see?’
Although it is a hard battle I refuse to give up
At the end of the day however he goes home and I have no choice but to walk away
I just hope that one day he is able to open up and be his true self
If only he could drop his mask for one day
If he did I am sure that he would see the world in a much better way
His eternal inner war with himself might come to an end and perhaps for once a stranger could become a good friend?



This piece was inspired by a man I met whilst at college. He was going through a tough time and this was my take on his life.