Hi everyone, and welcome to another Crap Poem as part of the COPE campaign.
I wrote a post recently about my frustration with all parties over their handling of the election campaign from a disabled persons perspective. That frustration should have died down after I put my metaphorical pen to paper, instead it grew and my obsession with watching the coverage became impossible to break.
Sky News was my main drug, tuning in day and night and jumping out of my skin every time my phone alerted me to something else that was ‘breaking’.
As the days passed a poem started to form, and I wrote this to get my feelings on paper. Having watched all the leaders debates that were aired, it seems these thoughts are not isolated.
In the end I voted, yes, but it was a difficult decision. Not just who to vote for, but whether to vote at all. Unusually, I’m a 43 year old women who, until earlier this month, had never voted on anything before. I’m not proud of the fact, but I struggled to connect with politics, finding it annoying and confrontational rather than intriguing or useful.
Anyway, I found a voice through voting, then it all felt futile again. I thought I’d finalise my poem and post it here in the hope that my infuriation will finally start to die down.
***********
How I felt before the election
Those in power, privileged,
their whispered judgements uttered.
No idea what real stress does
when you’re broken, broke and guttered.
Manifestos bypassed,
unknown impact on our pain.
So whoever we vote for
life will never be the same.
“Work harder with life’s up’s and down’s'”
“You should manage better”
The meta way they treat our health
is biased to the letter.
Do you think grief makes us weak?
Or fear of waiting bills?
Abusive pasts? Addictions? Pain?
Or loneliness that kills?
Mental illness isn’t fake
Our stories can be valid
So hearing you down-play our minds
Only worsens life that’s pallid.
Change is needed, there’s no doubt,
but how can we pick power?
Whichever colour we select
the Skittle will be sour.
What’s the answer? Who will help?
Westminister must digest
what mental illness truly means
their knowledge is depressed.
Many of us still have dreams
and hope of calmer waters.
Desires for a lighter life
that saves our sons and daughters.
Will they choose to write us off?
To tar us with untruth?
To make us feel a burden
without reason, care or proof?
One in 4 will hit this rock.
Did your campaign help?
Alone with only anxious thoughts
Now you’re weighing on their scalp.
How would you feel if your loved one
was struggling to cope?
Then heard you thought they’re failing hard.
Would you really flush their hope?
The older generation still had
mental health to manage.
Anxious thoughts of war and poverty.
Did they fear they’d be disparaged?
Things have changed, there’s new concerns
For every demographic
Social media, health, our cash
and threats towards our planet.
The new government must absorb
so much to know this illness.
In part a product of our time
that needs supportive service.
So as your manifestos came,
as winners were declared,
all that we deserved to hear
was somebody that cared.
A wall of silence still stands tall
Between us and you
Although we’ll take convincing
understanding could break through.
Listen to us, empathise
Find ways to treat us fairly.
End narrative that places us
in useless boxes squarely.
Talk to us like we’re valued
stop posting verbal pummels
Above all, ask us how we solve
our mental illness struggles.
**********
It’s not my greatest work by any means, but I think the point comes through. It’s true of so many subjects. Disability, poverty, workers unions, schooling, parenting…you name it, if ministers would listen to those with lived experiences, take on their ideas and turn them into a workable reality, then the problems we’re living with would stand a much better chance of long term recovery.
And finally, yes, I apologise for being quiet for a while. Not only have I been horribly unwell, I’ve also been using my pain-free time to work closely on the COPE Campaign, and there’s more news on this coming very soon!
Remember if you need more distractions then there are more jokes on my Hold Humour page, as well as haikus on Haiku Hope, awful poems on Crap Poems and odd language in Weird Words. I also have a page dedicated to stress hacks and other ideas to try if you need a distraction within the COPE campaign section of this website.
Thanks for visiting
Creative Steph 