It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I hope you enjoy this poem.

 

It is a question I’ve pondered many many times

Why should I not take my own life?

All I hear back are the words of others.

“Suicide is selfish. Think of all of the people you are going to hurt”

“What will this do to your family and friends”

“You’re going to tear everyone apart”

Oh and may favorite one

“I need you to stay alive”

What is it exactly you need me to stay alive for?

Last time I checked you can do everything to survive on your own.

Do you need me around so you can tell me how miserable things are for you

And then to completely ignore me because your problems are “worse”

Do you need me to give you advice that you completely ignore?

Do you need me to just be there without you acknowledging my presence?

You see to you and so many other people I am already invisible

My voice is not heard and I am constantly being pushed away by people

Who say that they love me

You see actions speak much louder than words

What do I have to do to get you to hear me and to listen to the words I say?

Your words say I love you but your actions don’t reflect that

When I say I want to die

The question raised to me is why would you want to do that?

You see I have been made to feel as though I am insignificant

That I am not important

I should not speak up for what I believe in

I am a disrespectful person

And that

I am the problem

Tell me if you felt this way would you want to live?

Why when I ask people to give me a reason to live,

I either get the Bible thrown in my face

or

That it’s just selfish to take my own life as I will hurt those who love me

I feel like if I killed myself, a lot of people would feel like it’s their fault

So they need me to stay alive so they won’t feel guilty

It’s never been about me, always other people

I guess I’m lucky that I have found friends and an amazing therapist

Obviously they don’t want me to kill myself

But they make me feel like I matter

And that I am important

And not a problem

They give me reasons to live that isn’t for their personal benefit.

I get to be myself and work through my struggles with them

without feeling like I am a burden

They call me out when I am being dramatic

They call me out on my Bullshit when I am the one making things worse for myself

They do this out of love and not from a place a malice because they care

But still,

Why should I live?

Well I should live because I have realized that I want to

I want to live because I have a story that needs to be shared

And a voice that needs to be heard

There are days where I don’t want to keep going

But I know if I stop

My story won’t be told how I want it and my voice won’t be heard

I want to better my life for me

And the only way to do that is live

My story isn’t over yet,

It’s just barely started