Secrets — Summary

Secretly we're scared And I know you couldn't tell Life just isn't fair We know that all too well The things we hide That keep us up at night You couldn't tell but We're not alright Secretly you're scared And I know you'll never tell When things go bad it's because they started well The things we hide Behind a smile and say we're fine You can tell we're not alright Secrets, we want to yell Lies that cause us hell Scared that they'll just let go Like all the others that you've known

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

"Secrets" by JustAnyNoOne is about the gap between how people look and how they actually feel. The speaker says "we" are all secretly scared, yet nobody can tell, because everyone hides behind a smile and insists they're fine. The poem moves between "we" and "you," as if the speaker is both confessing and reaching out to someone else who is hiding the same thing.

The feeling underneath is loneliness mixed with fear. Life "just isn't fair," and the line "When things go bad it's because they started well" suggests a weary, almost resigned view that good moments only set up the fall. The ending admits a deeper worry: that the people close to us will "just let go," as others have before.

The mood is quiet and heavy, with a hint of desperation in the wish to "yell." The short, simple lines and steady rhymes make it sound like a whispered confession, which suits a poem about things people can't say out loud.

Read also

More by JustAnyNoOne

All poems
ContemplativeJustAnyNoOne

Flowers

As any wise man knows Never pick a flower whose bud glows The best rose in the garden To be picked would only harm them
SadJustAnyNoOne

Expectations

I'm the cause Without a doubt I'm the cause I'm the reason