The Joy Hiding Inside
Intimate Observational Free Verse, Confessional Relationship, Psychological Realism Poetry
Juni Felix
8/3/20251 min read
The Joy Hiding Inside
Today, you speak differently.
You place each word carefully,
as if language has become a room
you no longer recognize.
There is a different look in your eyes—
not sadness exactly,
not anger entirely,
but something standing behind both,
watching me from a distance.
I ask how you are.
You say, “Fine,”
and the word falls between us
like a glass dropped on the kitchen floor.
Another mess to clean up together quickly, so that no one gets hurt again.
Yesterday, you hated everything.
The weather. The traffic. My questions.
Maybe me.
Your frustration filled the room,
then scurried back into your room.
Like a child scolded for throwing a fit.
But today, you smile at the sunlight
and call me beautiful.
You hold me close,
with such tenderness
that I wonder whether joy
has always lived inside you,
hiding inside, waiting for the right door to open.