When I was going through my old poetry the night before last, I found some very disturbing pieces… but I also found some I can still relate to. This would be one of them >>> (One of my quotes earlier actually came from a segment I remembered reading…) I was 13 when I wrote this!

Have you ever been in my shoes?
Have you ever walked this mile?
Have you ever caught a stone in the face?
Have you ever been on trial?

Have you ever had your faults yelled out?
Have you ever been abused?
Have you ever had a blister
from walking in my shoes?

Have you ever been misled?
Have you ever been misused?
Have you ever misinterpreted
my point of view?

Have you ever sliced your wrists?
Have you ever O.D’d?
Have you ever known YOU
while BEING me?

Have you ever wondered free
without knowing where you are?
Have you ever known the feeling
of wishing on someone else’s star?

Have you ever been abandoned?
Ever felt you had no home?
If you’ve never walked in my shoes,
leave me the **** alone.

- -

Obviously there are a couple of parts that I CAN’T still relate to (and I did bleep out the curse word at the end) but the general point is important – we can’t judge or criticize something we’ve never experienced, yet at times we can be all to quick to do so. We never know where another person has been, so where they are NOW may be a great accomplishment…