Albert Einstein was probably told a thousand times that he would never succeed.


We don't do things to get a thank you, we do them to make people happy. A thank you is just what we expect because it is often what comes after.

That is a most poetic response. Thanks so kindly for reading this poem and for sharing your thoughts. :)

It's easy to forget that our lives aren't truly about what we want and our desires. Rather it was what we do with our lives to better those to whom we are fortunate enough to positively interact with. Kindness, generosity, and friendship is its own reward. :)

Reading this in sequence, the story unfolds further. We are approached with this very same sense of isolation despite being in public spaces, and it gives more background to the total story. The first half of this poem reminds me of Father. Whenever I did something bad or off as a kid, I'd apologize to him because that was the reaction we're taught. He'd always get very upset at me for apologizing, and always scolded me saying "Don't say you're sorry! You are not sorry if you're going to do these things over and over again."

As a kid, I felt trapped because the burden of my actions were fully on my shoulders, rather than an empty promise and permission to feel normal again. These kinds of exchanges are similar to the kinds of false justice I'm sure you've experienced with your life's challenges. I can only imagine that people in your life have promised things to you because to feel better about their lack of handicap or even Ableism, they must preform a masculine act of selflessness to balance the sensation of your very real condition. By providing this help to you, whether you request it or not, is enough to alleviate the stress involved with the comparison.

I find the stanza about asking how much one can give before they break important to note as well. Providing help and being depended on is suppose to be a sign of dignity and respect, because it shows you are one who goes out of their way to be a contribution to some form of community. To have this jaded feeling about how one's contributions to their communities are dis valued or out of proportion shows that they are Othered in their said communities through a lack of appreciation or reciprocation. I think its important to note that the speaker would most likely not feel this way if they felt included in the various communities they engage in on a daily basis.

Lastly, the last stanza continues this sense of isolation through the examination of one's value through a lens of despair. The questioning of one's ability to continue rather than the drive to make action happen, I feel, is a sign of one's hopelessness and feeling detached from any support group. These attitudes are really easy to pick up as we internalize the ways SOME people have interacted with you, and its so easy to ignore all the positive ways OTHER people can and have interacted back. We cling to systems because they make us comfortable and sometimes happy. The de-complexification of aspects of one's life allows them to pursue other facets, but when things become even more complicated than before, one may just divorce that complicating factor in favor of less complex ones; something I know that you yourself cannot divorce.

Your analysis makes me very glad I took the time to pour my emotions out into this series of poems. It also makes me eager to read some of yours when you get to writing them again. Our discussions on poetry are very insightful. They are also super enjoyable and thought provoking.

What was a big part of this poem is how I sometimes feel like everyone comes to me with their problems but does not want to listen to me when I need to vent out mine. I know I put myself out there to help. But even those who help need help themselves at times.

I do not devalue people for not providing what may be considered as reciprocity. But I often feel so lonely since not many out there understand the particular matters in which afflict me. The other matter is how I'm a "Relater" who uses other means to help illustrate my overall feelings. (Hence the video in the journal for all these poems)

We can't fault others for being unable to relate or assist in our troubles. It is also wrong to expect anything in return for all you do for others. We should do what we can to help better society without expecting something in return. The whole "I'll do this if you do that" is unfair. It's why I frown a lot on "Charitable Donations" since most do it for tax deductions rather than to genuinely help the cause.

Perhaps the most comparable aspect here is the phrase "I love you". We can implicitly know someone loves us but there is a huge difference in knowing it and hearing it. So even though things may be implicit it is good to get something explicit to help reinforce the implicit. Otherwise one could feel a bit devalued.

My sister will NEVER say "I love you". It hurts my mom and my mom has even asked her why she doesn't say it. My sister replies, "You know I do." But knowing and hearing are two very different things.

You make a very good point. I'm also humbled in the thought that even if I do not become a Walt Disney that I at least will be a me. We all make differences in this world. They may be big like Walt's or so small that a scant few even know of them. But the point is you do your best to further the world around you because you want to instead with illusions of grandeur.

Thanks so much again for the thoughts and inspirational words, my friend. :)