“I’m Fine”

I don’t just want to see someone’s face

I want to know their shadow too

The food they like or shows they hate

Or maybe that their favorite color is blue

So quickly are we sorted away

Crammed into tiny digital files

Things that can’t possibly fit an entire person

A 6-digit code could never capture our lifestyles

And so, when I see this

Just another life behind a screen

I want to explore deep beneath the surface

Deep down, there’s so much more to be seen

But, I couldn’t possibly say that

Not to some stranger I just met

Who am I to explore

And tear through someone’s safety net

Maybe I’m being selfish

To want to know everyone around me

I’m just terrified to think

Someone will sink past where any of us can see

They say it’s the nicest who have seen the worse 

And I know what it’s like to be alone

So the last thing I would want

Is for someone to bear that on their own

Even still, one support can only hold so much

Sometimes it’s hard to get that through

I know there’s only one of me

But I know everyone would love you, too

Inspiration Behind the Poem!

I know that sometimes, among ourselves as high school students, we tend to have quite the dark humor. I mean, I get it. I do. It’s funny, it’s relatable, and there really isn’t anything wrong with it. At least, until there really is something wrong. There’s nothing as deafening as the silence from someone going through a rough patch in their life… nothing hurts more than receiving an “I’m fine” through text only for someone to not be here the next day.

The entirety of this poem is based off the idea that you really don’t know what someone else is going through. I wanted to depict a feeling that we all get too often, even if you don’t always notice it at first: a nagging piece just telling you something isn’t right, like an uncanny sixth-sense. However, I wanted to show this feeling through the perspective of someone who was on the outside. Someone who was conflicted, knowing something wasn’t right but still unsure of whether they should step in or not.

Reading this, maybe you’re thinking how this sort of thing is relevant. Why should I care about some stranger? Well, in all honesty, you don’t have to. Carrying everyone else’s burdens by yourself is suffocating, and no one deserves that kind of treatment. It’s just nice to be considerate. In the end, it’ll make everything easier… for everyone.