Kelly Crenshaw Poet Rhyme

Notes About The Poem

The inspiration for this poem is the story of an unopened letter that a man was afraid to look at. In fear he ran away. Never knowing if the letter was a love letter or dear john letter. Therefore not knowing the letter began to haunt him and he never threw it away. 

The Unopened Letter

The letter stays sealed within the envelope unread and faded 
Bringing neither hope, nor memories blurred or jaded 
The day it came I could not know
Which destiny the words would hold.
Out of fear I refused to break the seal
In hopes that neither fate was real
Thinking only of the I in me
Believing not that Love could ever be 
Nor trusting simply your love for me
Past memories of former hurt stake their claim
Haunting wounds, nightmares in the middle of the day.
Uncounted years the letter lay
Preemptive strike I walked away 
Hoping the memory that can never un happen of that day 
Will be less painful than the specter of what might have been had I embraced the gamble of love
the day your letter came.
And after all these years surprisingly 
That letter still calls out to me
Tho I know now what might have been can never be.
I sometimes think what if I was wrong
What if the letter told of love grown strong 
Of two hearts held by one strong bond
Perhaps the words spoke tenderly 
Of Love
Of Life
And not dear John as I assumed it to be.
I will never know if those words are real
Because the envelope that contains the letter
Remains sealed.
Somewhere in my twisted heart I feel
That those words unread
Can neither harm, nor heal.
Which is better?
Which is worse?
Does truth lie in the ancient verse
"Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all"
What daysman can ever make that call?
Maybe the tragedy that is worse
Is to never give your heart a chance to hurt.
So now I stand alone and cold
Much like the unread letter folded in the envelope.
Never throwing it away yet still not reading 
Dying unwounded
Scarred but not bleeding.
Knowing full and well that I will never know
The message that the letter holds
Too afraid to let it go
Yet too afraid to ever know
I stand alone 
A prisoner to unread words.
Fearing the past and dreading the future 
Fearful of presumed hurt. 
Yet I'm frozen
And alone
A prisoner held hostage by a message I'll never know.
A letter 
Alone 
In an envelope. Unopened.

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Andrea Dietrich January 22, 2014 at 9:36 PM wow, a very powerful one!!! You really let us SEE what you are feeling. I even wrote a similar poem about a letter a long long time ago, never posted. It was too personal. Good one! Kelly Crenshaw January 22, 2014 at 10:50 PM Thnx. I appreciate the kind words.