Mental Health

The Pink Ostrich’s Tale

 

 

 

 

A Parable of Painted Truths

 

 

I. The Privileged Perspective

 

 

In my gilded cage of crystalline lies,

 

I dance with a pink ostrich 'neath opalescent skies.

 

My wheelchair gleams with polished pride,


While others' struggles I deride.

 

 


    Such delicious power in words that wound,

 

    Like poisoned honey, sweetly round.

 



    (For who would doubt a voice like mine?

 

    When privilege and pain intertwine.)

 

 

 

 

II. The Betrayed Friend's Lament

 

 

My cat lies suffering, grey and thin,


 

While memories of friendship wear so thin.


 

Twenty-five years of shared delight,


 

Now scattered like moths in endless night.




 

    No comfort comes from one who knew

 

 

    The depth of bonds between us two.


 

    Instead, she spins her gossamer tales,


 

    Of greed and need that never was.


 

 

        (The truth drowns in her waterfall of lies,

 

        While my beloved companion slowly dies.)

 

 

 

 

III. The Flood's Memory

 

 

 

When waters rose like serpents vast,

 

 

And savings slipped into the past,

 

 

Fifty dollars—thrown like crumbs

 

 

To one whose world had come undone.

 

 

 

    Now twisted into weapons sharp,

 

 

    These memories play a bitter harp.

 

 

    While trauma's tendrils grip my core,

 

 

    She stands and slams each closing door.

 


 

 

IV. The Ostrich's Warning

 

 

(In whispered, clicking tones)

 

 

Crikey, listen close, you privileged soul,

 

 

Your lies may seem to make you whole,

 

 

But like my feathers—once so pink and bright—

 

 

Your truth is bleaching in harsh daylight.

 

 

 

    Each fabrication that you weave

 

 

    Returns to make your world deceive.

 

 

    Until your words, though sugar-sweet,

 

 

    Lie rotting at your pristine feet.

 

 

 

 

V. The Universal Chorus

 

 

 

Truth echoes in the spaces between,

 

 

Where liars' words have never been.

 

 

Though silver tongues may sparkle bright,

 

 

They tarnish in truth's revealing light.

 

 

 

    For those who weave deception's dance,

 

 

    Lose more than just a passing glance—

 

 

    When truth at last demands its due,

 

 

    No soul will trust what once rang true.

 

 

 

 

VI. The Revelation

 

 

(In scattered whispers)

 

 

She walks in manufactured grace,

 

 

A mask of kindness on her face,

 

 

While underneath, the shadows crawl

 

 

And empathy begins to fall.

 

 

 

    The pink ostrich watches, knowing well

 

 

    Each fabricated tale she'll tell.

 

 

    Its feathers fade with every lie,

 

 

    Until all colour starts to die.

 

 

 

        For in the end, what's left to gain

 

 

        When truth becomes a source of pain?

 

 

        The liar stands in splendid gold,

 

 

        Believed by none, forever cold.

 

 

 

In memory of a cat who deserved more than silence,

 

 

And for those whose stories were twisted into thorns.

 

 

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Invisible Inferno

Folder: 
Poems

 

 

In the cacophony of existence, a voice strains—

Forty-plus years of searching,

A lifetime of pains.

Words crumble to ash, unheard and unseen,

Lost in society's vast, indifferent machine.

 

Neurodivergent synapses spark and sputter,

A mind wired differently, thoughts all a-flutter.

Autism's maze, ADHD's relentless tide,

Trauma's shadows where nightmares reside.

 

Rejection's barbs, familiar as my own skin,

Each "no" a thorn, each silence a coffin.

Dysphoria whispers, "You don't belong here,"

In a world that sings harsh and unclear.

 

Nonbinary, queer, asexual—labels that confound,

A self yet unanchored, unsafe, unbound.

Isolation creeps, a suffocating shroud,

Drowning amid the indifferent crowd.

 

Empathy burns, a fire beneath the skin,

A curse, a gift, searing from within.

But who hears the helper's muffled plea?

Who sees the saviour drowning at sea?

 

Knowledge hard-earned through years of strife,

Wisdom gleaned from a fractured life.

Yet warnings fall on ears deafened by fear,

As others march blindly towards perils near.

 

The tribe remains elusive, a shimmering mirage,

Fading with each misunderstanding, each barrage

Of blank stares, of glances that never linger,

Of people who look, but fail to see the singer.

 

Helplessness learned, a bitter draught to swallow,

As hope's embers fade, leaving the heart hollow.

The voice grows hoarse, the weary spirit mired,

Unwanted, unseen, and uninspired.

 

In this abyss of unbelonging, deep and wide,

Echoes the cry of a soul with nowhere to hide.

For connection, for understanding, for home,

In a world where different means forever alone.

 

Senses overload: lights blind, sounds pierce,

The world a tempest, wild and fierce.

Touch that scorches, smells that choke and smother,

Each day a battle, one after another.

 

Yet still it burns, this invisible flame,

Flickering, sputtering, but never quite tame.

In the endless night, it stubbornly glows,

A beacon of self that nobody knows.

 

How long can it endure, this hidden pyre?

Will it fade from view or burn ever higher?

In the silence between heartbeats, it persists,

A testament to a life that still exists.

 

 

Author's Notes/Comments: 

 Essentially, just bleeding directly on to the page here.


It isn’t meant to sound profound, it is the raw emotional landscape characterised by life-long feelings of isolation, struggle, and the quest for belonging amidst a world that often overlooks or willfully misunderstands those who are different.



Desperate defiance in the dark

Desperate defiance in the dark

 

 

Voice vanishing, vaporised by virtual vitriol

Algorithms amplify absence, abandonment

Words once winged now wither, wane

Trauma's tendrils tighten, twist, torment

 

 

Silence. Deafening. Oppressive. Inescapable.

 

 

Childhood's cruel cacophony echoes, endures

Rape's raw rage resurfaces, relentless 

Abuse's ache amplifies, accumulates

Gaslighting's glare grows, guts grace

 

 

A chill wind of indifference swept through the room, leaving me shivering and unseen.

 

 

Neurodivergent narratives, now nullified 

Vestibular vertigo, vision vacillating

Fibrous fire flares, flays fragile flesh

Depression's darkness deepens, devastating

 

 

The empty chair across from me seemed to mock my solitude, 

 

its vacant seat a cruel reminder of my isolation.

 

 

Social streams shrink, shrivelling slowly

Platforms purge purpose, passion, power

Identity invalidated, invisibility impending

Self-worth withers like wilting flower

 

In silence, I found solitude; in solitude, I embraced silence

 

Yet still, soft syllables simmer, survive

Waiting, whispering: "We will rise."

For even silenced, stifled, suppressed

The soul's song softly, surely sighs

 

 

Through the hollow halls, past the empty rooms, 

 

beyond the echoing silence, 

 

a single, defiant voice dared to speak

 

 

In the depths of this suffocating silence, 

A flicker persists, refuses to die. 

Though the world may try to extinguish our light, 

We will rise, reclaim our stolen sky.

 

 

.

Author's Notes/Comments: 

This is perhaps, one of those "My struggle doesn't look like your struggle". 


Perhaps also, as the first person I showed this to, was unsure how to reply. Eventually they said: It is like you are bleeding straight onto the page.



They continued, keenly observing that. "People do struggle in knowing what to say. I think looking away while you’re so vulnerable is a relic of patriarchy: waiting for you to put your armour back on and get back up and keep pretending we’re all fucking fine."

One More Day

Folder: 
New Lyrics

 

 

There is a fear living in me

And it doesn't want to go away

It hides behind my sanity

But I pray that it's not there to stay

 

There's a darkness growing in me

I can't seem to make it go away

It's feeding my anxiety

I just hope I can last one more day

 

I need a minute to escape these thoughts

They're pushing me to the brink

I need to catch my breath before I’m lost

Inside my own doubt I'll sink

 

There's a sickness flowing through me

I can feel it running through my veins

Can someone take this pain from me

So I can make it for one more day

 

I need a minute to escape these thoughts

They're pushing me to the brink

I need to catch my breath before I'm lost

Inside my own doubt I'll sink

 

If I can make it one more day I know I'll be okay

Then I can let go of all this pain, and let it fall like rain

 

I need a minute to escape these thoughts

They're pushing me to the brink

I need to catch my breath before I'm lost

Inside my own doubt I'll sink

I'll sink

I'll sink

I just need one more day

 

 

 

 

Author's Notes/Comments: 

9/17/24.

Been a minute since I wrote a darker one, but had to get this out. Comments are welcome.

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The Importance of Mental Health: Strategies for Well-being

Author's Notes/Comments: 

In a world filled with various demands and challenges, supporting mental health is worth all of the time and effort it requires.

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Toxic

Folder: 
New Lyrics
Author's Notes/Comments: 

8/17/23. I am hoping this one is well received.  One of my favorite new pieces so far.

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Ezekiel (smile)

Well, you must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed today

Cause now some unfortunate people are gonna have to pay

Pace around the room, throw on some clothes,  about to have some fun

Heading for the door, grabbed the car keys, don't forget the gun

 

-You're too far gone, there's no turning back now

Your thoughts gone dark, letting the demons out- (pre)

-Of your mind, are you that fucked in the head?

Now you've left behind a trail of bloodshed 

Look around, everything you see is dead

No remorse, you just smile for the camera instead- (chorus)

 

So, as you drive around the city looking to find more prey

You're streaming it all on social media like it's a play

And you're leading the ones after you on a wild goose chase

Too bad your daddy ain't around to praise your evil ways

 

-You're too far gone, there's no turning back now

Your thoughts gone dark, letting the demons out- (pre)

-Of your mind, are you that fucked in the head?

Now you've left behind a trail of bloodshed 

Look around, everything you see is dead

No remorse, you just smile for the camera instead

 

So lock the doors and hide inside

You don't want to be next in line

 

 

11-14-22

Author's Notes/Comments: 

I decided to write a lyric about this guy who went on a shooting spree for over 12 hours through the city of Memphis TN back in Sept 2022. Let me know what you think. I've attached a link to the story below

 

https://www.newsweek.com/memphis-police-seek-suspect-shooting-spree-alle...

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