If They Only Knew

By Steven Bates, May 16, 2023

For those that live with Post Traumatic

There is nothing more for us dramatic

Than reactions given by those that fail

To understand our living Hell

That mock and ridicule and call us weak

And have to clue of what they speak

For if they knew our tortured minds

They’d know the pain that clings and binds

The angst, the fear, the apprehension

The hyper-vigilance and tension

They’d know the memories haunt us still

And all the emotions we daily feel

They’d know that smells and sounds attack

Our very senses take us back

Perhaps someday they’ll hear God’s call

And on that day, we’ll teach them all

That we’re not broken, we still bleed

And understanding is what we need.

Poemspeak