Behind Closed Doors

By Abhi Gupta

Abstract

“Behind Closed Doors” explores the complex relationship between vulnerability, trust, and self-protection. Through the metaphor of a heart as a series of locked chambers, the poem reflects the emotional journey of opening up to someone, only to seek refuge in solitude after the heart has been exposed. The imagery of doors and locks symbolizes both the invitation for connection and the need for self-preservation. In the quiet aftermath of intimacy, the speaker yearns to rebuild their emotional walls, guarding their innermost secrets while reflecting on the profound impact of having once allowed someone in. The poem navigates the tension between love's capacity to illuminate and the desire to retreat when faced with emotional exposure.

Behind Closed Doors

When distance grows, a door may creak,

But my heart stays sealed, no open streak.

Unlike the door, left slightly wide,

It holds its lock when you're outside.

A door has a lock to keep it closed,

my heart had four, and you broke through those.

The four chambers that held all secrets I had,

Guarded memories, both joyful and sad.

Each one you opened, softly and slow,

Revealing the depths I’d hidden below.

No door left ajar, no barrier too tight—

You lit up my heart in the quietest light.

I wonder, I seek, the locks that you keep,

to seal my heart again, to guard what runs deep.

For doors once opened can be closed no more,

and memories linger behind every door.

But now, in silence, I’d build walls anew,

A fortress untouched, impenetrable too.

So no one might enter, nor break through the seams—

To keep safe my heart and reclaim my dreams.

And though the doors are closed, the keys kept tight,

I find solace now in this silent night.

For within these walls, my heart can mend,

Guarded, steady, yet free to ascend.

By Abhi Gupta