Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
julianna Apr 2019
My arms don’t reach, I am unchained.
That’s when you feel loose enough to cry
“Are you okay?”
And you want to say “No”
but instead you say “yes” and you lie.
The formalities which we call normality,
Would bring others to tears,
As if we don't...
But we do.

Silently,
To ourselves,
We allow our minds to scream in our eyes,
If only because we have no other option.

Gracefully we strip away our minds until all that's left,
Is who we think we are,
All to this, though we are never satisfied.

With a straight face,
We release our streams of tears,
And allow no one to see the hells we face.

Our needlessly numbing mind drags on,
Our nemesis in ourselves,
But we can't tell a soul.

"It's not that hard."
"Just think positive thoughts."
and the best,
"I could do it, why can't you?"

They think us lazy,
When all our energy is spent fighting ourselves.

But,
Here,
We find our kin,
Where we extend our silent sympathies,
With the written words,

I understand.
Sometimes, those words are all we need.

Response to "Anxiety" by Chloe James
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/3109933/anxiety/
Evie Apr 2019
starting to think this might never work out again

starting to accept it

starting to see differently

starting to smile again
Ray Dunn Apr 2019
how many times
do I have to say
“i’m fine”
for you to understand
i’ve actually meant it
all this time

i never knew
what it meant
to be okay
and I don’t really want to
just in case
i become addicted
Idk one of my older things I’m clearing out of my google docs
starstrike Apr 2019
Are you okay, you ask
and I say that I am
though I haven’t been “okay” for years

I can’t decide what’s worse:
how okay I am not,
or that you looked into my eyes
and believed I was telling the truth

I can’t cry for help
as I fall into the abyss
so I cannot expect you to save me
but here I am anyway
hoping you might catch me

You don’t
and I find rock bottom,
let the darkness encase me
I cannot blame you, this is on me

If I had leapt a little further
perhaps I could have caught myself
but it is too late now
Eleanor Sinclair Apr 2019
Today I am at peace

I released a few crippling thoughts
and the apologies I finally wanted to give
It brings a smile to my face how each day felt like a race up until this moment
I feel calm and serene
For once I don't want to shout or fall down and scream
And I thank you for being willing to listen
Esther L Krenzin Apr 2019
I promise its okay to let your head hang low
some trees have to bend
so they do not break
We are human
and our chins cannot stay up
forever
And Dear One
you are precious
do not let them fill you with the ache
they too are feeling
Remember that you have to fall
before you can rise.

-Esther L. Krenzin-
-Roguesong-
It is okay to break down. It is okay to not get back up immediately.
RaRa Apr 2019
To the question, "how are you?"
"I'm okay" , "I'm fine" .
Are the kind of reflex replies
You will always find

But the truth
They camouflage
The hurt and the pain
They always disguise

"Misery loves company"
That's partly a lie
No one wants to be associated with the bad
And it's easier to be around those who are not sad

Also there's a shame in admitting defeat
A sense of guilt for  garnering sympathy
The humiliation of them thinking you're losing
Is as embarrassing as when you are not all you are or wished to be.

"You should be happy that at least you're alive."
" You have it better than someone; some are deprived."
"So you can't really complain; that's ungrateful."
" It could be worse, so even in your despair, you should be thankful."

Just because someone has it harder than you does not mean for better things you can't ask
Just because it might make people uneasy doesn't mean you must hide behind that mask
Even though there's no such thing as a life that's better than yours
Doesn't mean you have be content to suffer through yours

It's alright to talk it out, shout or cry aloud
Than to quietly fume, fret or to brood
It's never better in than out
Because in letting it all out you might actually get help and ultimately raise your mood

It's not okay to say you're okay when you're not
Your pain is legitimate whether big or small
There is no need to put up a front
You can always hope that out there there's more

It's okay not to be okay
There's no need to act like all is ideal
Because we as humans, we are flawed
We are not fine but we are fine with that, we will get there even if it's piecemeal.
Next page