Reading log #5

The secrets we hide – Tiffany Franklin

We struggle to have meaning 
in this world, which we all know.
We try, but yet we wonder 
where we all should go.
Hidden in the questions,
we cannot find
the answers. They’re are all hidden
deep inside our minds.
Hidden in our soul
is the life we try to hide,
but in time it will find you,
and it will release 
all of its secrets hidden beneath,
so before it ruins the life you have made,
release those dark secrets, 
and the memories will fade.
Hidden in our lives are stories left untold
of the things we didn’t want them to know,
but once you tell somebody
and make your feelings known,
the struggle will be over
and you’ll finally be home.

This poem is about the secrets she hides from her friends, family and loved ones. It discusses the idea of the unknown through her thoughts, mind and life. She hides her secrets, fearing the idea of facing them. The poem shows that when the time is right we need to face our issues, talk to others and share them – whether they are dark or not – in order to find answers, release the fear and accept that pain.

As we mature and time passes these secrets or things we have hidden became unhidden. We need to deal with them, and as we do, they no longer seem such a problem and the memory of them disappear. Talking about them and sharing them help with this. If we do not deal with them, they can become more of a problem. We see another example of fear through our secrets, we turn our issues into secrets in order to protect ourselves from the truth, in this quote ” Hidden in our lives are stories left untold
of the things we didn’t want them to know,
but once you tell somebody
and make your feelings known,
the struggle will be over
and you’ll finally be home” we see that she highlights the feelings around secrets, the way they can cause fear and trauma to us if we don’t express them and the way that letting people into your struggles relives you. The society holds many secrets, we all have them, not just things we are afraid of but things we don’t want to admit, a huge struggle in this day and age is letting people into our lives, we hide behind social media to let out our pain instead of talking to someone. When my aunty passed away I had the fear of losing more of my family members, constant nights I would wake up to a nightmare screaming, I didn’t reach out to my family because I feared the idea of accepting being afraid, I felt like if I told someone that I was scared of it happening to another it would grow the chance of it actually happening, this affected me a lot and sleep and time became a huge strain on me, letting myself speak to people helped me, I’m able to express myself more to this day.

Whether it is bullying, a first break up, issues at home, a fight with a friend, a mistake you made, or a death of a close family member, we face many issues and emotions we have never experienced before. Fear is around us all the time especially at my age, we are growing and learning how to cope and understand the world. I believe this quote from the poem – “We struggle to have meaning in this world” … “we wonder where we should all go” creates a relation with the fear that thousands of teenagers are dealing with currently, who we are going to be and how are we going to make an impact on this world we live in. This opened my eyes to the fact that we are all just people, most people strive to be someone important and to make a name for themselves.

When I read this poem I thought of  a tragic experience I have had this year, the poem made me feel anxious. I could relate to it totally, as this is how I felt and some of how I am still feeling. I hid alot of my feelings to deal with my pain, and feeling of loss of control, and being unable to deal with so much emotion at once. Fear of what else would happen to other people I loved, and how I would deal with it all.  Time is healing and taking away the raw emotion, as sharing and talking, and remembering the good times, laughter and fun bring peace. Learning to deal with this experience, I have found some answers to the unknown questions, and feeling some control, so the fear is less,and I can expose a bit more of what I have hidden, and deal with that in a positive way. 

The poem shows  that we hide fear or emotions we cannot deal with away as a coping mechanism, but time is healing, and slowly bringing to light the fear or emotion surrounding it, we can be released from the fear.The poem ends by saying that by dealing and sharing  with your feelings and issues, the fear and anxiousness disappears and you can find the real you, be at peace, and live your life.