I Won't Run

"Cut your losses",
says someone I know.
"Find someone who
appreciates you."

That's good advice.
There's just one problem:
The thugs remain
to drive me insane.

I will not be
intimidated
into stillness
about illness,

the stigmatized
ignored and abused.
They need to change
how they short change

disabled people
in the campaigns and
the Party too;
let us break through.

They need to learn
a little critique
is not so bad,
no need to get mad.

Strong people grow
from criticism,
not run from it
or throw a fit.

All we want is:
not be shoved around,
be included,
not secluded.

There I Am

Sometimes I think
I just need to go away
to disappear, get lost.
That would leave some
of my worries behind
and reduce much of the cost
to others who
have been paying the high price
of my mental break the most.
The only hitch
is that I cannot escape
myself, problematic host.
No matter where
I go, there I find myself.
The Devil take the hindmost.