Shadows and Truths

On the noisy streets of a hurried world, Labels are thrown, like in a card game unfurled. A sad smile, or a tear, are signs of danger near, “You're anxious!”, “You're depressed!”, sharp voices we hear. With ease, society doles out diagnoses, ADHD, bipolarity, phobias that impose. But sometimes, a bad day is not a clinical scene, It’s just a moment, a shadow, that fades and is unseen. “Do you have panic attacks?” they ask with disdain, But they don’t know that the heart is just racing in pain. When stress grips the throat and the mind feels worn out, It’s just a reaction, not an illness, nor a doubt. A simple sadness, a temporary frustration, Easily turns into a label, with a guilty connotation. “You're a sociopath!” or “You have sleep disorders!” But someone fails to see it’s just a façade that borders. From a joke, a smile, or an odd behavior, Stories take shape, theories are trod. But every person is complex, with shades and hues, We can't reduce the soul to simple categories we choose. “Are you tired, are you sad, do you need some aid?” But help becomes a burden, a pressure that’s laid. When simple weariness turns into a diagnosis, And you wonder in silence if you’re lost in the process. In reality, we are just humans, not statistics, Carried by waves, through moments of intensity mystics. Sometimes we sway, but we don’t fall into the abyss, Let’s not allow labels to steal our identity’s bliss. So let’s breathe, let’s accept our flaws, Let ourselves feel, without fear of the cause. For life is a blend of emotions and shades, And we’re not just diagnoses, we’re a whole tale that pervades.