Condemnation instead of praise

Condemnation instead of praise,
Jealousy instead of sympathy,
They don’t get it,
Lies are believed,
The truth is ignored,
The wrong people are trusted,
Time is wasted in petty conflict,
They don’t realise,
Grinning buffoons rattle off their
Nothing talk,
Looking at you through confused
Eyes,
Scared eyes,
Uneasy,
Vulnerable,
They talk like machines,
They use familiar phrases;
“The shirt off my back”
“Putting food on the table”
Their jokes are old,
But they always seem to get a laugh,
They act like other people around
Each other,
Not like themselves,
They are scared of looking stupid,
Weak,
They have their fragile pride,
They have their flimsy pretence;
“ I AM HAPPY,
I DO NOT WORRY,
I CAN COPE IN ANY SITUATION,
I DO NOT FEEL FEAR,
I HAVE NO MONEY PROBLEMS,
I AM NEVER DEPRESSED,
MY LIFE IS PERFECT “
This is the person they want you to see,
The front they project to protect themselves,
But it lets them down,
It does not protect them,
It makes them lie to themselves,
It makes it difficult for the barriers to be brought
Down,
The real truth to be found,
It leaves them feeling on their own,
Excluded from the party that isn’t happening in the first place,
It makes them read the signals wrong,
Anger instead of calm,
Condemnation instead of praise,
Jealousy instead of Sympathy,
They just don’t understand.