Relieving Tensions

So many packages, for no reason, I carry, And walk burdened, my body and soul seem scary... Tensions, I call them; nothing if I look within, Just like an onion when I remove the whole skin...! Any little word of my friends or neighbors, odd, Any act for which I do not get their applaud, Is enough for me to brood within long like fowls, And lose my sleep and wake up many nights like owls...! So many foes, thus, in my life I had soon earned! Full of pits in each step, thus, my life had upturned; None, like eyes before staring sun, I could not face, Betwixt us, I could feel, forming an unknown space...! Enemies and only enemies everywhere, Shades of foes did shadow my soul and rudely glare; Anger, fear, guilt, doubt, loneliness, and helplessness, All, in their toughest chains, bound me in callousness...! Having suffered, as though throat-choked, I decided, These pessimisms, like sun shades, are one-sided; Optimism, with rainbow colors, when, fills the soul, The world, with diversities, will turn single whole...! I unlocked my closed heart with keys of faith and hope, Though coping with all seemed to tread on a tightrope; I did not give up; a bit bloom of smile; a hug; And felt, at last, each tension is a mere humbug...!!! 13 January 2023 Revealing Your Soul And Other Tension Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Sotto Poet