A poem addressing mental illness and the daily struggles of living with anxiety. |
I’m a mental mess, I’m sure that’s what they say. I can’t hold a conversation, I can’t get anyone to stay. I have friends by my side for five minutes, Before they realise I am a freak. Who wants to associate themselves anyway With an anxious and troubled geek? I make plans which I later cancel, Because I’m far too drained to go out. Then I lay in bed feeling guilty, Full of tension, resentment, and doubt. ‘Hey, are you still with us?’ They laugh, they tease, they mock. They make fun of my blank face, I wish I could make it stop. I try to act like a normal person, And put my anxieties to the back of my mind. But there’s only so much I can take, I can no longer push my emotions aside. The tapping of keyboards in class, And the rustling of paper bags, Makes my senses rapidly heighten, And I feel like I’m going mad. Oh look, another notification, That shrill-like, haunting BING. My anxiety is now a puppet master, And I’m the puppet being tugged by its strings. ‘I’ve texted you, are you ignoring me?’ Those five-minute friends say to me, My pain to them is invisible, So my tears, they cannot see. I’m a mental mess, I’m sure that’s what they say. But I am trying my very best, To keep my demons at bay. |