What this man knows of his heart

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everyone. Today’s piece of writing was prompted by a quote posted on twitter, “Men know nothing of their hearts; be them 6 and 20, or 6 and 80.”

As an occasionally romantic man I felt a little aggrieved, though not really surprised by this statement. You see men clearly do know a great deal of hearts at times, as Keats, Shelley and Wilde, amongst others, have given great testament to. The trouble for most men may not in fact be a lack of awareness of their hearts but the faculty to express that awareness with coherent language to whomever their heart is given over (incidentally, I have known one or two women who seemed to find this a problem on occasion although most are admittedly better at it).

It was from this that I began to think very hard. This thinking was keeping me awake. What do I know of my heart? There was nothing for it but to write and so write I did. Nothing I could write of my heart would be in the Keats/Shelley/Wilde league but I have at least attempted to express what I know of it. This poem follows no rules, just thoughts and feelings.