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I Build Walls

I build walls:
Walls that protect,
Walls that shield,
Walls that say I shall not yield
Or reveal
Who I am or how I feel.

I build walls:
Walls that hide,
Walls that cover what’s inside,
Walls that stare or smile or look away,
Silent lies,
Walls that even block my eyes
From the tears I might have cried.

I build walls:
Walls that never let me
Truly touch
Those I love so very much.
Walls that need to fall!
Walls meant to be fortresses
Are prisons after all.

In this poem, walls are not made of bricks or any physical materials. The author uses “walls” as a metaphor for someone hiding his feelings and thoughts from others and even from himself.

Why would someone build “walls” around his or her feelings?

Do you, or others you know, ever build such “walls”?

Does the narrator believe that it’s always a good idea to have these “walls”? How do you know?

Do you think that there are times when we need to “build walls”?

Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.
—John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961

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HISTORIA DE UN LETRERO (THE STORY OF A SIGN)