They say pain

Is the secret

For creating a great poem

Making a cool story

But I couldn’t tell you

If what they say is true

 

I don’t have those battle scars

The ones that always come up

In a discussion

When having a conversation

With… Anyone

I haven’t cried myself to sleep

At night

 

I was never hurt

Emotionally

But, there was that one time

I scraped my knee

Does that count

For something that has hurt me

 

My mother never left her family

My father never put his hands on me

Nobody I know was killed in a war

And I’m not just talking about

The soldiers that go off into other countries

I am talking about the brown bodies lying dead

In our streets

I have never been raped

 

Never been assaulted

Never been cheated on

Never had my heart broken

No, nothing like that has ever happened to me

 

Sometimes, though, I feel as if I am missing out

Because bad things don’t seem to happen to me

And I am grateful yes, of course

But it would be nice to feel included in discussions

 

The ones where everyone is comparing their battle scars

The ones where you don’t feel so alone anymore

The ones where you don’t have to fight your battles

On your own anymore

The ones that’ll leave you thinkin

About that other person

You shared a conversation with

 

I want to be included when everyone’s telling their life stories

And the only pain I remember having

Is when I scraped my knee

But because I was crying

My mother gave me a cookie

And some milk

And I forgot all about my pain and sufferings

 

Is it wrong to wish for pain

The emotional kind

The kind that will leave you in tears

With a broken heart

Is it wrong

To inflict such harm on myself

For no reason

Except the excuse

For feeling included

 

If a standing soldier falls

Is he still a soldier at the end of the day

Even if he tripped on his own foot

And was never called in for battle

When dealing with a war

 

When I finally have my moment

When I am finally included

Will the discussion be over

Before I got a chance to speak