The Untitled Poem I Will Never Forget

There is a poem I want to share. I did not write this poem, but I have carried a copy of it with me throughout the years. I have read and reread this poem so often that I used to recite it like one would a prayer on restless nights. When I first heard this poem, the title it was given was “Masks” and the author was listed as unknown. Years later, I discovered this poem was actually titled “Please Hear What I’m Not Saying” and the author is Charles C. Finn.

Charles C. Finn is an author of over 20 books, including Please Hear What I’m Not Saying: A Poems Reach Around The World.

Please Hear What I’m Not Saying

Don't be fooled by the face I wear
For I wear a thousand masks, and none of them are me
Don't be fooled, for God's sake, don't be fooled

I give you the impression that I am secure
That confidence is my name and coolness is my game
 and that I need no one, but don't believe me

Beneath dwells the real me, in confusion, in lonesomeness, in fear
That's why I create a mask to hide behind
To shield me from the glance that knows
But such a glance is precisely my salvation

That is if it is followed by acceptance, if it is followed by love
It's the only thing that can liberate me 
from my own self built prison walls

I am afraid that deep down I am nothing 
And that I am just no good
And that you will reject me

And so begins the parade of masks
I idly chatter to you
I tell you everything that's really nothing
And nothing of what's everything, of whats crying within me

Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying
I'd really like to be genuine and spontaneous and me
But you've got to help me
You've got to hold out your hand

Each time you are kind and gentle and encouraging
Each time you try to understand because you really care
My heart begins to grow wings, feeble wings, but wings

With your sensitivity and sympathy and your power of understanding
you alone can release me from my shallow world of uncertainty

It will not be easy for you
The nearer you approach me, the blinder I may strike back
But I am told that love is stronger than walls 
And in this lies my only hope

Please try to beat down these walls with firm hands
But gentle hands, for a child is very sensitive

Who am I, you may wonder
I am every man you meet
And every woman that you meet
And I am you also

I have seen different versions of this poem and although the wording is slightly different, each version has the same message. We all have internal struggles and we do our best to mask them from the world. We wrestle with simply putting our true selves out there for everyone to see. Generally, people do not like to be vulnerable. Closing off and keeping a wall around the deepest parts of yourself is the usual reaction for safeguarding one’s feelings.

Charles C. Finn sort of wrote this poem by accident. He sat down and wrote out his feelings and after finishing, decided to hand it out to his students and a few friends. He did not add his name to the work until years after sharing this poem with the few people he had. He did not expect the popularity and the impact this poem would emit.

I first received this poem from a teacher on a Natural Helpers retreat. We were a group of students chosen by teachers and peers, to help where we were needed- Be it helping someone with a problem, tutoring someone, or just listening and being there for another student. Our retreats were training in skills to help one another. We learned many valuable lessons from our advisors, but that untitled, non authored poem we received is the one thing that has stuck with me all these years. My hope in sharing this poem with you is for you to understand yourself and others a little better- maybe get along with others a little easier. Heaven knows we need a little more peace in the world these days.