An Emotional Black Hole Poem by William J. (Skip) Henderson Jr.

To hear and not understand, stare and not see, talk yet unable to commune,
Feeling helpless to express, taste and not consume; the conundrums faced,
Leaving you trapped in an emotional black hole.

Guilt from mistakes made long ago leave my heart with voids,
Unable to fathom neither depths of youthful love nor the breadth of our joys,
Such is state of one’s heart caught in the gravity of an emotional black hole.

Like the child in that candy store, who can see but cannot touch,
Smell the sweetness not savor the taste, salivate but not satiate.
Through the hell of the moment, no control over his actions,
Reaches out past the scent, reaps a taste from memory, recalling his heart
Before being caught in the quicksand of an emotional black hole.

Memories battle back, gravity overcome, the mind regains
Knowledge of what was, what could have and should have been.
The game of what if begins. No winner, no loser,
Just left gazing back into the depths of an emotional black hole.