A Simple Turn of Phrase - July 7 2022

 

A Simple Turn of Phrase

July 7 2022

Confess your love?

As if they were holding you hostage

and beaten the launch code out of you?

As if you'd committed some heinous act,

only to break down

under duress?

As if this were some shameful secret

and your conscience demanded it?

No.

A confession

because you know she won't feel the same.

A confession

because it's a forbidden love

and dangerous.

A confession

because how you have felt

has been too long suppressed,

even to yourself.

But how much better

to declare your love

proclaim

profess;

unstinting

unselfconscious

unafraid.

A strange turn of phrase, confession.

Half-hearted

with a whiff of shame and guilt.

I say, use a megaphone instead,

announce it to the world.

Risk rejection

fail bravely

expose yourself.

Or live disappointed

and die alone

all for the sake of a word.

The poem started with just that: the opening line. I read the phrase, and it immediately struck me as mealy-mouthed and suspect. After all, one confesses wrong-doing, not love!