These labels

You know it's a bit annoying

the way people tend to speak

the way the words are changed

ever so slightly

when describing something a bit unsightly

'it's a deceased tree'

instead of saying 

it's a tree with a disease 

the change in the phrase

changes how you think

the way you gaze 

a blind woman in the shop

instead of a woman who happens to be blind

a cancer patient 

rather than a patient with cancer

a depressed teenager 

instead of a teenager with depression

it's a drug addict 

instead of a person addicted to drugs

an alcoholic 

instead of a person

We throw around these labels 

so carelessly

unaware the power of words

so easily

we place things in boxes

and those labels become the only thing it can be

but the thing people fail to see

is the fact that we are not our struggles

a person is not their diagnosis

or their addiction

it's not their feelings

their moods

you get scared 

and climb into your car

they are people

Act like it

 

don't look and judge

don't stare and laugh

cause chances are 

When you call them a ___ person

that word you use becomes their identity 

rather than simply part of them

That diagnosis 

becomes more dominant 

Then even their face

and you forget that they're a person too

with feelings just like you

don't dismiss them as their struggles

when they are so much more

people hate and people fear

you get scared and climb into your car

people are not their labels 

so stop acting like they are

 

the thing about labels 

is the fact that they're supposed to help describe

not define

people forget that too often 

and how quick people become the labels given to them

others blame them for their struggles

'why are you depressed, you have such a great life'

why are you asking me that 

it's none of your business 

'just be happy'

yeah cause I've never tried that before

 

"ew that dudes homeless,

he must have really screwed up in life. he's

probably a druggy"

how loud are you whisper

how easily your tone would change

if you were the one outside left to shiver

if the tables had been flipped

these assumptions are made so quick

and it makes me feel a bit sick

the subtle phrasing 

it changes the way we think

we put the label before the person 

and it alienates them

distances us

when in reality...

 

People are all flowers

they come from a seed

not deciding the type

a flower doesn't go from a seed 

already thinking it a weed

it's just a flower

some of them have yellow petals 

some are purple 

some red

but their color doesn't change the garden bed

there a big fluffy flowers

and little dainty ones

ones that like the sun

and others that prefer shade

some with deep roots

and some with thorns

so many differences 

but that's the true beauty of it

none of them are quite the same

people are flowers 

their different but still the same

 

How much better would the world be 

if instead of mocking

hating

fearing 

alienating

and showing contempt

at those who seem unkempt 

we showed compassion

showed that we cared

we showed love

and were willing to help

if instead of making fun of someone's differences to you

you try to understand why

why they act the way they do

why they are the way they are

to understand the how

how long have you dealt with it

how do you cope

how are you, really

how can I help?

if people could one day

learn to be understanding 

rather than reprimanding 

I think that the world would finally be an okay

place to stay

we are not our lables

those labels are just an explanation 

for the what 

and the why

to help others understand

that even if we aren't just like you

we still are human too