There she goes crying again
life is SO not fair to her
her job sucks and her sister is SUCH a pain in the ass
she's SO tired of being depressed
and there are way too many demands on her
I listen
not because I care
but because my own darkness has suffocated me
Can she really be so unaware
of the void behind the blankest stare?
It's so easy to nod and smile and say proper things
the hard part is reaching inside and opening up to feel
to awaken the past and free the demons trapped by secrets
It's just not worth the effort
and there she goes crying again
and it's just not fair

This poem has some interesting aspects to it. The way I read it is that "she" belly aches. She goes deep. Her "friend?"a there (the poet) listens very unwillingly, really. The end is what is interesting. One would expect the poet to say that it's easy to put on a front but hard to get to the feelings inside and express them. Instead the poet says the opposite (it's easy to get to the feelings and hard to put on a front. This throws the thing in a new perspective. This has the poet saying that inrospection and emoting are not worth the effort. So from almost friend's behavior at the beginning of the poem, poet is praising it at the end? Very interesting poem. I guess I'm self indulgent in expressing my interpretation of the poem but it got my attention and I find it intriguing. Not everybody can pull a switch like this in a poem and dipict such good characterization.
-------
"so unaware of the void behind the blankest stare"...i like this a lot, and i SO know how it feels to listen without caring (haha). ~cammi
-------
Anon, thank you for the feedback on this poem. I wondered if anyone would pick up on the double standard. I appreciate your response.
cammi, thank you also for your comment. I think everyone has been on both ends of this spectrum at one time or another. author