by Lubna Shah

I never blamed you when your heart muscles stopped being strong
This finger never pointed when the insulin levels went wrong
But when I am concerned
the tables are turned
Now u judge me just cause my brain cells don’t get along?
Maybe it’s ’cause you are scared
We tend to fear what we do not know
‘Cause we are so used to the status quo
Anything strange has got to go
Such that all that’s different are dangerous
And all that’s dangerous are murderous
And when you see me, you think of the worse
But didn’t you know, before I harm you,
I’d might just harm myself first?
But there is no use when you’ve made up your own rules
And this is the mindset that you choose
First you throw all sorts of abuse
Then you use me to amuse
One look at me and you start walking in twos
Now you tell me
Whose screws are loose?
Our nuts and bolts might be uneven
But that doesn’t mean our souls are broken
And isn’t it a shame
that my diagnosis precedes my name
And you use that to blame that,
I’m a classic example of a social misfit,
I’m losing my job, why don’t I just quit?
This relationship is breaking we might as well split
Cause I have schizo.. schiza..
You can’t even pronounce it
Genetics and chance know no circumstance
I could have been you, if only you knew
This stigma’s a wall behind which we hide
It is a blunt sword, that kills slowly inside
When next to the truth
All myth are just filth,
when not backed up with proof
I want to hear voices,
Voices of choices,
To speak out what’s true
Beyond just tolerance
Voices of acceptance
Voices of you
January 2013 – this poem was first read at premiere of the club HEAL short films at SMU