Does it matter?
a poem based on a real memory
Does it matter?
We look up — he smiles down at us as we discuss away fervently the stigma associated with terms like “crazy”, and how it perpetuates negativity for those who try to live with a mental illness.
Maybe you’re overthinking how much words matter “lol”
(( yes, at a time when people said “LOL” out loud and it was “cool” ))
Hopeless enamoured by his smile, but moreso of his tenacity and quiet wit, I dismissed our conversation as silly on the grounds that on many other fronts he did challenge me to think beyond the confines of the cage.
To me, I was a caged bird, bound by rules and obedience;
He got to explore the words a free bird, bringing back answers but more importantly questions about how much vaster the world could be.
It does matter.
Now I know.
Though he taught me that there was a world to live outside those bars,
I’ve since flown the world, asking those same questions, deriving my own, answering some of them, yet others spurring on more; and while grateful for the starting point I now know about the weight of definition and how it binds us in invisible ways not observed by those untouched by labels, untethered by stigma.
It does matter.
How much I had wished my revolution came earlier and I had the wisdom to fiercely argue him then, as one standing on my own rather than one dependent on another to bring me morsels of filtered truths.
This poem is dedicated to someone valuable to me, who now lives in the past.
It is also dedicated to Adam Deitsch, who provided me with this poem prompt: definitions. To me, words are more than just a string of letters. They carry weight. They change behaviour. The can bring shame as much as they can bring joy. In short, they matter.
Challenge me outside of my comfort zone by dropping a poem prompt here!
Hi I’m Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) and I write poetry about anything under the stars and maybe beyond them too. In poems, I heal. In words, I hope you do too.
Hop down the rabbit hole? 🐰🕳
^ by Samedra Carter!