Garden of Emotions - By: Jessie Ma

Flowers of true joy

Are hard to come by

Hidden deep in never ending weeds of sorrow

Mistaken for poisonous flowers of lies

Shielded from sight by nearly unbreakable leaves of guilt

Almost replaced by enormous bushes of anger

Deep seated unsureness claws at the stems

Others rip at the petals

The happiness flowers don't know how to shine through

Your heart is a small garden

All these things are happening

Yet, if you try hard enough, you can find the flowers of joy

Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.

I believe this poem at least semi-accurately describes what all your emotions are doing inside you. The main theme is that, while happiness is hard to find, it is still there, and you always have the ability to find the joy within you and cherish it.

Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.

One night, while writing down poems in my journal, I came up with the first stanza. I was very impressed with my work, so I decided to enter into this competition. I came up with the rest of by thinking about my current emotions, and what they were doing to try to suppress my inner happiness. All I wrote in this poem is based on my emotions, and none others.

Why did you choose to write this poem?

I have always loved to write random poems and one night I just wrote this one. I thought it accurately summarized my emotions while also being figurative enough so as to not be a autobiography.