There is a darkness that shields the eyes
even from the brightest of skies,
that hides us from the brutal truth
already damaging our precious youth
Don’t be deceived or look for thunder
“What is it then?” you ask with wonder,
A powerful force kept out of sight,
Gathering fuel in the dark of night
A common illness, from which many suffer
most often hidden from each other,
Yet why is that so? why must that be?
Why should we turn from what children see?
So if just for a moment you could hear
the silent whispers filled with fear,
you would know of the sadness that fills each day
when the two headed monster comes out to play
And so as some children survive, others will not,
if only we listened closer to those we forgot.
Those with another’s illness lurking above
Paying dearly for loyalty to those they love
And while some will sleep sound in their beds,
others will suffer abuse and violence instead,
crying out in pain but no one hears
the desperate sadness in their tears
And so it goes on night after night,
until the child grows up and starts a fight.
Teachers bemused at this odd outrage
Say “they shouldn’t behave this way, at this stage’”
Yet no one helps and so it goes on,
until perhaps the little child is finally gone,
and the young adult that now grows, is lost and confused
not knowing which path in life to choose.
Lost in their mind and set in their ways,
they seem okay to others most days,
and when eventually the pain begins to rise
people looked stunned but perhaps not surprised.
So a journey begins deep down in the soul,
to mend the enormous grieving hole,
caused by the loss of her father at eight
and her mother’s ongoing alcoholic fate.
And with each passing day, a little light grows
and she begins to forget the heartache she knows,
instead the little girl surfaces playfully once more,
only different this time, wiser than before.
There is no sense of sadness, bitterness or dismay
And at last it seems she has the confidence to say,
“this really happened, it happened to me”,
and yet through it all, I feel happy and free.
It is with much hindsight she can see
that for a long time, ‘it was not the real me’
Lost in grief, in anger and despair,
looking for love from anyone, anywhere.
And now that she’s a mum
And has broken some ties
She begins to unravel the web of lies.
Consequently there are those who are not impressed
at her apparent selfish ways and disrespect.
For alcoholism is a secret families like to keep,
away from prying eyes, hidden deep.
that way it is easier to avoid any blame
and to keep things running exactly the same,
to pretend and lie in spectacular style,
she calls it insanity, doctors call it denial.
Now she sees things as clear as day
and hopes to show others a brighter way,
because really no one has to suffer alone,
help is now there by email or phone.
And that’s the secret to this tale,
that we can help to free others who are desperate to sail,
into the light that we will shine,
to let them know that they will be fine.
But in order to get to this happy place
there is one difficult task they must all face,
and that is to speak out, to find their voice,
and to learn that saying ‘no’ IS their choice.
For in every moment there is a new way,
to do the things we love each day.
To see the things we want to see
And be the person we want to be.
