What You See

What You See by Brooke Samerson

You see darkness,
Anger,
Misery,
Laziness.
Do you know what happened last night?
His father beat his mother, right before his eyes.

You see shyness,
Quiet,
Sorrow,
Loneliness.
Do you know where her father is?
He was sent to Afghanistan 3 weeks ago; no one's heard of him since.

You see a strained smile,
Pain,
Worry
Fake .
Do you know what happened to her?
Her mother's on heroin.

You see evil,
Anger,
Resentment
Revenge.
Do you know what happened to his sister?
His friends raped her when they were asked to watch her.

You see ugliness,
Scars,
Bruises,
Hurt.
Do you know what her foster father did to her?
He'd been drinking; he beat her with a bottle.

You see her, him, them.
You see what you see,
But let them see a smile,
Beauty,
Love,
Happiness
Who knows?
It could be the last thing they see.

I wrote this poem because I find it interesting how little you know about someone on the surface. The boy everyone teases could be deeply depressed. The girl you dislike could be abused. I think that we need to be more loving as people, because we never know what someone is battling- we only know them from what we see. Behind closed doors, they could be in every imaginable scenario, and we'd never know from what we see at school or work.