Choke

The reason that you cough
Is:
You won't tell someone
Something that bugs you,
Something that pains you.
That thing you must say,
To be relieved
Of it.

Instead of say it,
You choke on it,
And you cannot be made better
Until you say it.
Oh, I know this sounds strange!
Are not coughs
Functions of phlegm,
And cannot phlegm be removed?

And don't medications,
Voluminous medications,
Take care of a cough
And end that suffering?
That is true.
You can suppress it.
You can forbid your tongue
To say what's in your heart.

Or you can speak it!
And if it is so simple
As failing to say it,
Why would you instead
Choke on it?
And then cram medication down,
To prevent that most simple
Of remedies available to you?

Say what it is!
Don't choke on it!
You know what you have to say,
And if it is causing you pain
You must say out loud
What it is
That is bothering you.
Be free!

And if it disappoints
Those around you,
Well, it is better to disappoint them
Than to die.
Or does it seem better
To be killed by what you have to say,
Than simply to open your mouth
And speak it?

Well, you would not be alone.
For, so many people
Would rather hold in
What they intend to speak,
Than do the simple thing
Of speaking it.
And you can hear them,
With their awful cough.

They will never learn.
Do not be one of them.
When you feel yourself
Choking on your thoughts,
Practice writing them down.
And then when you've written them,
Practice saying them.
Then, finally, say them out loud!

And if it doesn't make you better,
Well, then I think you have further thoughts,
And you should meditate
On the causes of your discomfort.
But I bet it is only,
What you dare not admit.
Say to the one you love
How they are making you feel.

And, well, if they don't want to hear it,
That is theirs.
But it is not good
Not to say it.
They can hear it.
They can process it.
They can ignore it.
But, at least they know.

And if they don't care,
Well, then perhaps they should
If they really care about you.
Because, if you say what you need,
And they don't respond
By saying, too, what they want,
And if some amends cannot be made
Your relationship may be at an end.

For it won't do,
To spend a whole life
Choking on your innermost thoughts.