Communication Breakdown

I finished my first course in a decade, and you can’t hear me.

Like yelling into a void, there’s just blackness to greet me.

No well done, congrats, you finished it!

Only silence, and a blackness that seems to fill the air within it.

Housing, criticism, and voices are thrown right at me.

Like a bullet from a gun, and it’s about to clap me.

Expected to hear you, acknowledge, and regurgitate it back.

My own feelings. Ignored and suppressed into the black.

How can we talk, if your voice is the only one you care about?

My voice goes unheard. Like a tree falling, and no one’s around.

You tell me I don’t listen. I’m not mature enough. I can’t change.

You don’t see the changes that have already been made.

My tone, my looks, the expressions I make. I vowed to be patient. I’m not playing any games.

But your rules are like a minefield, and I’ve got no vest.

Your eyes only see the one thing you believe is best.

You’re not seeing me tip-toeing through the minefield to you.

One wrong move, and it’s over. I’m through.

My soul. It’s Tired. My voice, strangled too.

So I’ll shut down. Become quiet, a mute.

And when you ask me what’s wrong?

I’ll smile, nod, and say “it’s not you”.