Excluded from the playground.
Always picked last for any team sport.
And when I am picked,
quickly excluded from participation.
I’m part of my family, but I don’t belong.
Expected to be quiet and invisible.
Expected to just go along
as if I were no more than baggage.
Silenced by daddy-Monster’s violence.
Silenced by mom’s bitterness.
Silenced by many of my teachers.
Silenced by others for too long.
Silenced by religious experts
who have all the answers.
Silenced by workplace associates
who have greater credentials.
Silenced by myself – for survival.
Silenced by myself – out of habit.
Isolated and alone.
No one hears my silent voice.
Today, I count myself in.
I have a voice.
I have a mind.
I have a human heart.
I have something to contribute.
I’m OK with civil disagreement.
I’m not OK with my silence
when I have something to say.
– Healing Heart Warrior (Tom M.)
Tom M.