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Poetry & Art

That’s Mental Illness

She has mental illness
They say, pointing.
THAT’S mental illness
They discuss at roundtables on TV.
Depression, anxiety, mood swings, drug addiction, sleeping ’til noon, being too sensitive to the world, sleeping around, making everyone uncomfortable.
Mental illness.
I say
Doing what you’ve always done but expecting to finally be happy THIS time.
That’s mental illness.
Doing what you’re told from the day you’re born ’til the day you die.
That’s mental illness.
Hoarding billions while masses starve.
Loving Jesus but not your homo neighbor.
Killing your soul for a job you hate.
Indecisiveness to the point of never really having to make a decision ever.
Lying to yourself so deeply that you finally forget what it was you really wanted out of life. So you can be comfortable. And feel safe.
Settling. It’s not so bad. It’s easy.
THAT’S.
Mental illness.

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by Andi Wesley

I write because I feel like I need to. I'm a professional sign language interpreter by trade, and communication is what I work with and play with and do. Getting our thoughts out of our brains and into art is the thing that makes us human, I think. It's a way to connect, to heal, to concretely engage with the abstract concept of neurons firing in our brains. Let's share our humanity together.

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