The Things I Never Said

The Things I Never Said

I sat thinking over a cup of tea,
Of all the things I’ve left unsaid,
Things that were brushed beneath the carpet,
And things I kept inside my head.

Some things came out when they shouldn’t,
And people didn’t like what they heard,
They thought I was standing above them,
Trying to rule them with every word.

So friendships built their walls around me,
And before too long they were dead,
While all the things I should have spoken
Went whirling like wasps in my head.

Sometimes my heart starts beating faster,
I know when anger’s bubbling there,
But saying everything that hurt me
Wouldn’t always make life fair.

You may ask me what I’m thinking,
And yes, perhaps I could set it free,
But sometimes I’d rather keep my burdens,
And quietly mull them over, you see.

I don’t know if that makes sense to you,
But it fairly makes sense to me,
Because some of the things I never said
Could destroy what people believe they see.

So we’ll all play happy families,
We’ll smile and skip along,
We’ll gather round our cosy fires
And sing another happy song.

But deep inside the heart’s own cauldron,
Where darker memories stay,
I’ll push those words beneath the water
And hide them for another day.

Because speaking them can loosen stitches
That closed an ancient sore,
Each word begins to pick the wound
And open that cut once more.

But when I keep those words unspoken,
I’m the one who holds the key,
They stay behind their locked-up door
Where only I can see.

So take that into consideration,
Not every truth needs to be said,
Some things are better left in silence
Than haunting lives when you are dead.

And all the things I never told you,
All the words I chose instead
To carry quietly inside me—
Are still the things I never said.