Where Do I Belong: a poem for Mental Illness Awareness Week

A poem to mark Mental Health Awareness Week in the United States and other countries.

Today I am feeling blue.
Oh, I think I shouldn’t tell it to you,
You will not understand,
Or will you?

They always say I am different from you;
My brain works slow, â¨I am retarded you know.

They say I am cracked and I am a bow;
In the world of arrows,
I am a poor show.

They say I don’t deserve any care,
No word of love,
In happiness, I need no share.

I fear asking how much of it is fair;
When they break me,
With hateful glare.

You can speak gently,
Maybe words, a few?
To tell me that I belong to you.

And to the world that owns you,
I want to feel belongingness,
And be its charming hue.

They say, I shouldn’t sigh even if it hurts,
And shouldn’t feel at all,
When something inside burns.

I wonder what difference it makes if I cry.
I am so shy,
But today I want to ask; what’s all this and why?

I want to tell you, just like yours,
I, too, have a heart,
And it suffers…