If somebody should love a curtain
We can do nothing but to sustain
You must keep your thoughts confined
Or you do not prove of civilized kind.
The curtain does not allow me
To open my words to thee.

We are rational human beings
Can never go for emotional things
Even if we love we must hide
Each other’s mind we can’t decide.
We are snails living inside a shell
So that none could see, we fear to tell
The secret truth for our ego
Will feel hurt if the other says, “No”!

You think the other might call it a dark desire
And your long nurtured image gets into fire
All the words we utter are fake
Truth can’t be told for image’s sake.
You never declare your passions for you are not so bold
For the sense of honour the tongue must be kept on hold.
Our hearts are inside our skulls
Saying the truth might make every one repulse.

We can perhaps never bridge this gap
We’re the victims of our civilized trap
This is a civilized curtain we must keep
Even if we do nothing but barrenness reap.

Prateep Sengupta

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/civilized-curtain/