Oh, I'm aware. Too aware. <br /> <br />I wore my bright colors, my orange and golds, <br />the big yellow hat, closet greens unrolled. <br />I walked as a billboard to questions and stares, <br />promoting the week in the way that I dared. <br /> <br />I dared, but soon noticed that not all yet believe <br />the idea of ‘mental ‘ should be loud or be seen. <br />Loud or allowed, or improperly bold, <br />outside of the box, escaping the mold. <br /> <br />Is it mental when it cannot be contained, <br />the idea controlled or conventionally sane? <br />Must we still plan to hide it somewhere back at home <br />and speak in the whispers of those left alone? <br /> <br />I dress for the manic, depressed, and confused <br />from the depths of their struggle to the heights they don't choose <br />and their families who live while covering tracks <br />of self-medications, missed parties and grads. <br /> <br />Mental Health is as tidy as its Illness is raw, <br />one carefully speaks, the other guffaws. <br />One politely sits through a serious play <br />while the other with darkness sleeps day after day. <br /> <br />One tries to keep the other subdued, <br />and tries at a distance not to be rude, <br />but the lady in lavender still speaks to the street, <br />with her elegant voice and no one to meet. <br /> <br />And the girl eats her sugar bag simply to feel <br />as if there's a way to really feel real, <br />while the boy locks his door to the every of days <br />of schools, friends, and doctors who can help in some way. <br /> <br />These don't always show up to stand up to say: <br />'it's not easy to live with us every day, <br />with unplanned disappointments, and great expectations <br />to rein in extremes in our binge of sensations.' <br /> <br />Oh I'm aware. Too aware like the many who know <br />of the normal we dreamed, then had to let go. <br /> <br />(May 9,2012)<br /><br />L C Vieira<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mental-health-awareness-week/
