Words are Windows (or They're Walls)

I adore this poem so much, since first I read it, years ago. Taken from Marshall Rosenberg's book "Nonviolent Communications"; never get bored to re-write and repeat it..




Words are Windows (or They're Walls)
by Ruth Bebermeyer


I feel so sentenced by your words,
I feel so judged and sent away,
Before I go I’ve got to know
Is that what you mean to say?


Before I rise to my defense,
Before I speak in hurt or fear,
Before I build that wall of words,
Tell me, did I really hear?


Words are windows, or they’re walls,
They sentence us, or set us free.
When I speak and when I hear,
Let the love light shine through me.


There are things I need to say,
Things that mean so much to me,
If my words don’t make me clear,
Will you help me to be free?


If I seemed to put you down,
If you felt I didn’t care,
Try to listen through my words
To the feelings that we share.