That Anger, That Pain: A Poem About the Questions We Don't Ask Enough

When someone asks "How are you?" the expected answer is fine. We've turned the most important question we can ask another human being into a social reflex — a pleasantry with no expectation of truth. This poem challenges that.

The Poem: Only a Fleeting Moment

Only a fleeting moment

Forever lost in time

Were you happy?

Or proving a point?

When you answer, "How are you?"

How often do you say your truth?

Expressing that anger, that pain...

These times are for listening

More than ever before

But are we really listening...

To that anger, that pain?

Were You Happy or Proving a Point?

"Were you happy? Or proving a point?" catches us in something true: how often do we perform contentment not because we feel it, but because admitting otherwise feels like losing? The poem's central challenge follows: "How often do you say your truth?" — not the edited, presentable truth, but the actual one. Including the anger, including the pain.

Are We Really Listening?

We have more ways to communicate than at any point in history, and yet most evidence suggests we're lonelier and less understood than ever. We're broadcasting, not listening. Managing, not connecting. Next time someone asks how you are — try telling them. And next time you ask, stay long enough to actually hear.