A Song for My Brother

At first, he seemed strange
Gazing hard at nothing
But we couldn’t see what he saw
Didn’t know what he was hearing

What’s wrong with you, boy?
What’s going on in that head of yours?
Why you looking like you seen a ghost?
Go along. Get out of here.

“The demons,” he cried.
“I see them all around me.”
“My heart, it’s going to burst.”
He was red. Tortured from the inside out.

What’s wrong with you, boy?
What’s going on in that head of yours?
What’s tearing you up on the inside?
Go along. Get out of here.

How my momma cried.
How she could see nothing else
But her little boy hurting.
Now she knows nothing else.

What’s wrong with you, boy?
What’s going on in that head of yours?
When you going to get better, son?
Go along. Get out of here.

The day that he’s gone
No matter what will be left
On this broken-glass trail we’ve been on
There will still be stars and music.

—-

Read more about Schizoaffective disorder.

#mentalhealthawareness

Note:

Most of the details here are one’s my family will recognize, with one exception. My mother refused to let my brother be on the street where so many of our mentally ill brothers and sisters are.