I thought a thought, an interesting thought,
So I put it out into the world.
I nodded my head, and turned away,
And the nastiness unfurled.
Someone else thought a thought about my thought,
And put it out into the world.
They issued a coded call to arms,
And abuse was suddenly hurled.
Hundreds and thousands of comments were shared,
Some measured; some angry and cruel.
The language was varied, the message the same:
I’d broken an unwritten rule.
If I’m to share my thoughts in this world,
They must adhere to the norm.
I must follow the leaders, the kings and queens,
I must worship, obey, conform.
I thought a thought, an interesting thought,
That I was too scared to share.
I kept it inside, where it could hide,
And no-one could see it there.
I kept it inside, and tried to pretend,
That I didn’t really care.
—
I witnessed some pretty awful behaviour on the weekend. I hope I never see anything like it again.
For Lisa x #idratherbeme
Perfect Em xx
Thank you x
This is wonderful. #idratherbeme
Thank you so much. Loved your take, too.
Beautiful! I absolutely love this, Em, and Lisa will too x #teamIBOT
Thanks, Renee. That’s the main thing.
Well done Em.
I only heard about all this yesterday. I’ve kept quiet so many times online because of this exact reason; anything that’s not considered ‘normal,’ is wrong, but who decides what normal in the first place?
Exactly Jess! xx
And there’s always a new normal to try to keep up with. Too exhausting. I’ll just be me.
I. fucking. love. you. This is brilliant. So measured, yet so fucking on point.
You set off my comment moderator! Fuck yeah! Thanks x
Perfect, brilliant!! x
Thank you x
Measured, eloquent and on point. Perfect!
Ooh, the trifecta! Thank you so much.
Absolutely fabulous!
Thanks, Bron – and thanks for the initial nudge. x
Brilliant. Love this Em.
Thanks, Deb x
Oh dear! I missed the drama but I love this!
Well worth missing. Thank you.
Perfection, nothing more need be said.
Thank you x
Lovely poem. I’ve been off line for so long I’ve obviously missed something….
And that’s not a bad thing!
This is wonderful. You’re a real talent, Em xx
This means a lot, Lauren. Thank you x
I only caught up with what has been going on this morning. So well written Em x
Thanks. It’s a lot to take in!
Perfect. Just perfect.
*blushes* Thank you x
Perfect. I actually have welled up, I hope to never see such a thing again either.
Oh, wow! Not that I want to make people cry, but I didn’t think it was that powerful. Thank you. Yes – hopefully I’m never inspired to write something like this again.
Well said Em. Xo
Thank you x
Beautiful writing as always Em! Nothing more needs to be said.
Thanks. And I will say no more about it. x
Heartfelt. Beautifully shared. Xx
Thank you x
Fabulous Em!
Thank you x
So sad but true. I wish we were all better than that xxx
Wouldn’t it be nice? Human flaws are acceptable; targeted nastiness, not so much. Thank you.
I don’t know the context, but it’s beautiful!
Thank you. Glad it still works without context.
Where Emily’s words are written, wisdom follows. Thank you for being the person who writes and thinks. Denyse xx
You are always too, too kind. Thank you, Denyse.
You have such a way with words Em. I’m totally envious. And totally agree with it. I’ve only just caught up with the happenings, glad I missed it really. No one needs that nor deserves that in their life.
Oh, you. Stop it. Your talent with words invokes plenty of envy itself! Thank you.
That made me teary! Beautiful Em xx
Thank you. And sorry about the teariness. x
Beautiful x
Thank you x
You are truly gifted. Love this.
Too generous. But thank you. #headexpands #headexplodes
Yep and yep. That stuff was truly frightening and this is really beautiful.
I love that beautiful things can come from horrible beginnings. Thank you.
Beautifully written Em. This is perfect. We can pretend we don’t care… but heavy hearts know the truth.
So glad my final point is clear. Is it better to keep things inside? I don’t think so. Our discussions just need to mature. x
Your way with words never ceases to amaze me Em xx
Such a lovely thing to say. Thanks x
Perfect Em. Love it
Thank you x
What a boring place it would be if we were all too scared to share our thoughts. I love this xx
YES. We need to be able to let them out into the world.
There seems to be a lot of negativity going around at the moment! Loved the poem and am going to put it up at work.
Thank you Em and wishes for only good comments in the future!!
Michele
Thank you! This wasn’t inspired by direct experience, but sometimes witnessing something happen to someone else can hit you almost as hard. x