You think everything is fine
When you ask me “how was school”
And I say “great”
Because you never bother to check my room
Where you will find me
Crying
Trying to pick up the jagged shards of myself
Trying to fix the shattered image
When did I agree
To sign up for this competition for survival
To which I can’t see an end
When did I agree
To be scrutinized
Criticized
Ridiculed
Compared to thousands of people
I have nothing in common with
I know I can still walk
Still can talk and breathe fine
You need to look inside my mind
To see that I am crippled
I am a failure
I am a failure
I am a failure
My brain repeats to me incessantly
My worth is lost
Because I’m not good at math
I will never be successful
Because writing isn’t my forte
But you know what, world?
I am valuable
I am worth something
And nothing you do
Can make me stop believing that
And I know that people say
When you apply pressure to coal
A diamond forms
But have you ever stopped to think
That sometimes
With too much pressure
The coal
With a beautiful diamond just waiting to show
Could just break?