Circling the Block

(way back in the day when I actually wrote, I took a class in poetic forms. this was one of my exercises, an attempt at a rondel)

Circling the Block

All the doors are closed
and I cannot bring myself to knock.
I’ve spent years circling the same block,
but what can I propose

to you? My lot is self-imposed
restraint. How can you unlock
the doors you’ve closed
when I cannot bring myself to knock.

Waiting in the street’s frozen
smile, my inane greetings mock
my loneliness. My life is blocked
with a need to always seem composed.
All the doors are closed
and I cannot bring myself to knock.