I wonder how much life I’ve missed,
Because society expected me to do that or this,
The that or this I couldn’t seem to achieve,
They call it success, their words deceive.
I wonder how well my mind would be,
If I wasn’t told to climb heights I couldn’t see,
The invisible ladder to the top of wherever,
The ladder that leads to the middle of never.
I wonder how much less my kids wouldn’t endured,
If I hadn’t been made to feel so insecure,
If a future of dread due to failure wasn’t assured,
And differences weren’t diseases that need to be cured.
I wonder how much happiness I did not feel,
I wonder how many emotions weren’t even real,
I wonder how many panic attacks I had to conceal
Because the others found it such an ordeal.
I wonder why it’s only been a short number of years,
Since they began to understand pain between the ears,
And why, for son long mental illness was something they feared.
© 2026 Emma Faith | www.lifeuk.faith > All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share this poem provided that credit is maintained to the author and a link is included to the original website.