I’m the only normal one here
I don’t scream of hit
I listen and I’m quiet
I don’t cause trouble
The caretakers love me
Why am I here?
My roommate with the sunken eyes
Her haunted face tells me
She isn’t normal
She broke her hand
Punching the wall
I tried to help
I sang her to sleep
To help with the insomnia
The caretaker with the navy blue scrubs
He wasn’t normal either
His anxiety always shook him
And he cried for the kids in there with me
I don’t know if they worried about me
I didn’t talk much
I didn’t eat much
I couldn’t swallow
The pills I was given
I wrote too much
With an eraserless pencil
I stayed out of groups
Blaming a migraine
I asked for multiple blankets
Saying the A.C. was too cold
I just didn’t want them to see me shake
Katherine Kerber
Stay Strong, page 2, new stanza
                    The nights got longer
                    Thoughts keeping me awake
                    Fingernails versus Forearms
                    Guess who won again?
                    Long sleeve shirts so no one sees
                    I couldn’t stay here anymore
                    So I played the game
                    I played better
                    I said I was okay
                    I got out
                    They said I was fine
                    How wrong they were
                    I’m cold and shaking
                    I’m going to cry
                    I don’t want to live like this anymore
                    Somebody help me...
                    Then someone did
                    I got turned around
                    I am so much stronger now
                    I am not alone
                    I don’t have to cry anymore
                    There is light in this world
                    Darkness is dying
                    Everything will be alright
                    Stay Strong