Words Are Windows (or They are're walls)

A beautiful poem that I found in the book - "'Nonviolent Communication" by Marshall Rosenberg

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 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.