Social Isolation

I was rejected

Yet I was chosen

How can that be?

 

Many times, of pain,

People saying no

Or ignoring my presence

 

Times when I was forgotten

Or told I don’t belong

In the place, I was put

 

Times when words hurt

Because they were said,

By ones I trusted and loved

 

Times when I felt safe

And went with my trusting nature

Led to my biggest hurts

 

Times when my personal space

Was invaded and dismantled

Leaving devastation in its wake

 

Times when I was being judged

For the beliefs that I hold

All because they felt insecure

 

Times when I was bullied

Because people disliked me

As I was good at my job

 

Social isolation from others

Because those who are weak

Gang up to make you feel the same

 

As the saying goes

Sticks and stones may break your bones

But words never will

 

What a lie,

Words can definitely hurt

As they pierce a hole in your heart

 

They enter the head

Where they sit and fester

Eventually being all-consuming

 

Going into your system

Making you believe

That their words were the truth

 

But they are not the truth,

They are lies

And are not a fraction of you

 

They are a reflection of the people

And  symptomatic of their insecurity

All lies, not truth

 

Jo Anne Kennedy

October 2022