Poem: I am invisible

I am invisible.
Just a shadow to those around me.
Something to be ignored.
An inconsequential diversion

Those that scream my importance
only see theirs, not mine.
For if it were mine,
words wouldn’t be needed.

When they cry, I cry.
When I cry, they console.
The difference is crucial.
The difference is total.

My injury is ordained.
The numbing of years is apparent.
Numbed by the effects of others,
but the toll has been taken.

My tally will be self.
I know there is no reprieve.
The road I travel is apparent.
The wall is visible.

I am abandoned.
A lifetime of caring.
A decade of giving.
Years of transparency.

So I say goodbye.
Goodbye to myself.
I gave all I had,
hoped for so little…

…and received none.