mental health poems

Dissimilarity

The harrowing
Uncertainty begins,
More of a screaming,
Piercing pain that won’t
Go away no matter how
Many aspirins one takes.

Trying to ignore it,
Hoping it will go away,
Pretending it’s not going to happen
When it inevitably will,
A return to different times,
Shocking dissimilarity.

Unreachable minds,
Roiling with contempt and
Inordinate callousness.
They will never
Dig deep enough
To tell us why.

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Prickly

He lost count of
How many times
He had to
Bite his tongue,
Change his
Narrative in order
To not elicit
Prickly reactions,
Reflexive retorts from
A frightened squid
Spewing ink,
Clouding the waters
Of understanding,
Face an impassable
Wall built to keep the
Barbarians out,
Endure a superficial
Relationship built
On strict hierarchy,
Avoid being himself.

Capitulation

Although I wish
It were different,
I have no expectation
That it will ever change –
Stubbornness being
One of those qualities
That doesn’t lend itself
To self-reflection or
Capitulation of any kind;
The need to protect a
Molten core of fear
Much stronger than any
Noble impulse.

Games

Arising each day
In an obscene
Fantasy world
Where brutalizing
Another human being
Is commonplace.

Subservient to fear,
Sickly minds
Play sordid games,
Scorning, ridiculing,
Ignoring humanity,
Lecherous ritual.

Ingrates

He sits livid
In his armchair,
Staring at the TV,
Where people are
In the streets,
Holding signs,
Chanting slogans that make
No sense to him.

He mutters something
About ingrates
With no right to
Protest against a
Good man just doing
His job, and what about
What those people do
To one another.

Unworthy

Glorified dualist vision,
Good versus evil,
Us against them,
Our people distinguished
By excellence and virtue,
Theirs huddle in
Laziness, barbarism.

Manichean perspective,
Forced tension between opposites,
Only one true good.
Disparage, separate, deprecate,
Dismiss with animosity.
Unworthy of consideration,
Cast aside unceremoniously.

Day after Day

They just
Don’t get it,
What it’s like
To be demeaned
And belittled
For nothing else
Than the color of
Your skin,
The feeling of
Hateful eyes
Sizing you up
When you go
Where you’re not
Supposed to,
The contempt you’re
Confronted with
When you speak up
In any way,
The stinging pain
Of being
Looked down upon
Day after day.

Crumpling

The painful sadness
Of an agile mind
Succumbing to fear,
Leaving behind any
Hope of a brighter day,
Crumpling into sorrow,
Unable to hear
A beautiful song of
Courage and love.

The Questions

He doesn’t feel good
About himself, hasn’t
Come to grips with
Some, if not all, of
The questions that
Keep him from sleeping.
He attaches himself
To promised comfort,
Quells his doubts
By pressuring others
To do the same,
Stumbling together in
Willful ignorance,
Unopened eyes,
Closed hearts.