As the month of July ends, so does National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. For this month, my posts focused on mental wellness to honor this. The world is filled with so much trauma and many people do not always have the proper resources to help them deal with it. Now, in more recent times as I walk the streets of New York City (NYC), I have seen more people battling addiction. They appear to be engaged in harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine/crack. I’m sure many of these people had some major event in their life that impacted their decision to initially use. Many of them walk the streets each day in a world feeling alone even when its filled with so many people. Many of them had some breakdown in their mental wellness that got them to this point and the only way to get out is by having a great support system away from the environment one knows.
In 2008, I took a creative writing course and I wrote a poem that touched on the topic of mental illness. It wasn’t perfect, but I was proud of what I wrote as a girl soon to enter young adulthood. Below you will find this poem I titled
“Schizophrenic Crazed Streets”
I walk into darkness with
a wandering mind as the
voices of the city yell at me.
The blazing sounds of the
car horns jolt me into fast motion,
while the changing traffic lights conflict
my thoughts, and allow the delusions
to take over my sanity.
I can’t take the way the inner
voices of the passing crowd
scornfully move away from
my presence because they think
I’m crazy.
I always find myself traveling the
loud subway with noisy
people who try to keep their
distance, but I move closer
and allow my brain to confess
all the insane thoughts on its mind.
I am tired now because the city
keeps yelling at me. Each day I
try to find a new place to relax my
mind and bring back the real person
inside me, but everyday the car horns
and traffic lights bring back the other person I hate.
I hate him with all of my heart, but he is a
part of me and I can’t get rid of him.
I need a helping hand, but until
the city looks my way I will
remain in the body of this other person.
So, what did you think?! I hope you enjoyed this poem. As we end this month, let’s make sure we take care of ourselves. Mental wellness is at stake each day we allow life’s stressors to seep into our bodies. If your mental is not okay, seek help if needed. Let’s also be aware that there is someone out their going through something and can’t find the support they need. Let’s see them when we walk around the streets and let’s push for better services with our government officials.