ME, I’ve Never Looked Better

 

Just the other day

A friend just happened to say

My, you’re looking well

He’d forgotten about the ME hell

 

We’d not seen each other for a while

So when he said it, I gave a smile

He meant it as a friendly greeting

The thing you say, when just meeting

 

A friendly hello was all it was

So I felt no anger, felt no cause

To say just how I really felt

That may have been below the belt

 

Or should I have told the truth

Told him of the pain

Explaining how the merest thing

Can be an energy drain

 

We have our doubters

The unthinking shouters

Those who think we live a lie

Thinking that they know it all

While inside we slowly die

 

How are we to spread the word

With a situation that’s so absurd

On the surface looking like a swan

While below, so much going on

 

Outward signs say we are well

So how are others supposed to tell

That the Russian doll shown to the world

Hides many layers that are so unfurled

 

If like an iceberg, so much is out of sight

How can we ever win this fight

When the strength we need is just not there

How the hell is this fight fair

 

So I may have looked ok that day

As so many of us do

But then not to be seen for a week or more

Should give some kind of clue

 

For every face out on the street

For everyone you chance to meet

They have a story, they have a life

You do not know their daily strife

 

The struggle to just be out that day

Making them feel like hell

Not faking being ill at all

But faking being well

 

Invisible illness does exist

And it is my most sincere wish

That everyone starts to take a look

Beyond the cover of this book

If friends and family can distrust

Then education is a must

 

How are we to be validated

With medical education so outdated

Although Invisible illness needs explaining

We still don’t have any worthwhile training

 

But if this plea is to go unheeded

Something major is surely needed

Something we all can all afford

Something that might just strike a chord

 

What about something really drastic

Something really so fantastic

What if we all just take a vow

To just be kinder, from here, from now.

 

 

Bill Clayton

©2019