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Unconscious Bias

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Written for the contest " unconscious bias " sponsored by Edward Ibeh. 
Here I write about mental illness, specifically Borderline Personality Disorder, and how its so stigmatized, and frowned upon, how their emotions and behavior is often confused with manipulative behavior and as attention seeking! 
I pity the world that sleeps on mental health cries! 

This one goes out to all those silenced, and all those that feel ashamed to express because of society's unconscious bias!

I forgive the stars sleeping in nothingness, too afraid to embrace eclipsed spheres….. In the midst of sweltering gloaming, I ascend, obscured and tarnished, like a tainted trinket lost in the tangerine haze. For I’ve long been burning from the coals of stigma~ stamping labels upon troubled torrents, using malignant metals, mirroring the fear within lichen eyes, consumed by ancient arrows of anguish~ from the era of Hercules and Midas. But if only they knew, there is no remedy for the jaded jewels that refuse to sparkle, for my purity remains unseen in growing darkness, oblivious to the liquid gold that flickers compassion, as they see not beyond their fractured vision. O distorted colors of the sun, I’m not your perplexed perspective; I breathe in hues of humanity, infused with luminous lavender. I’m not a Medusa siren luring you to serpentine rocks; I swim in chromatic, evanescent streams, brimming with blissful bioluminescence, illuminating my way under the midnight sky. I’m not the suffocating wintry winds freezing oxygen in your lungs. While it seems your tongue is silenced and tied to the twisted strings of broken instruments, I ink words of hope and empathy upon your cynical skin. I am more than the blind rage seeping in fury. I’m not a heartless harpy screeching into the emptiness~ drenched in despair, pushing boundaries to the ends of the earth. I am Atlas holding the world on his shoulders, I am the glistening stars aching to touch the silver ring around the jasmine moon. But life is like a helix fixated on unconscious bias, constantly critical of diverse dialects, watching me struggle to stand under the weight of pressure, knees buckling as your assumptions lacerate me, breaking me down, burying me in your ruthless riddles. I feel rumbling dirt beneath my bleeding feet. My sarcophagus is rising, built from your putrid ideals of me. Losing footing, I refuse to fall into the seething seas of sorrow. So remember, I was never the soulless monster hiding beneath your ignorant bed. But I am now the skeletons etched within the cataclysmic aftermath of your shallow misconceptions.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2024




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Date: 9/27/2024 6:39:00 AM
Absolutely sublime write, Inky. Stunning imagery and metaphors, my friend. I'm faving this. Heartiest congratulations on your top win in my contest!
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Date: 9/7/2024 7:44:00 AM
Powerful poem.
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Date: 9/6/2024 12:41:00 PM
Maybe you're just too deep to be read, hmmm....:) This is very beautiful...I felt like your words were really powerful....<3
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Date: 9/5/2024 9:46:00 PM
Wow... wow! I am speechless! What power and beauty in your poem. You give the strong message that let us not be held captive by the invisible chains of unconscious bias, but break free to see the world and each other with clarity and compassion. "I am Atlas holding the world on his shoulders, I am the glistening stars aching to touch the silver ring around the jasmine moon." Those who are 'sick', they hold such weight like Atlas, but afraid to speak out. We all have peculiarities, fears and tensions within us, but through some bias, they are suppressed. But one should emerge and use his resilience to spring back to find the power within. "Losing footing, I refuse to fall into the seething seas of sorrow." Simply wonderful. Hats off!
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Date: 9/5/2024 12:30:00 PM
An interesting take on unconscious bias.. At work we have to do training on this, personally, I think everyone has some form of this.. Your poem is a powerful exploration of personal identity, societal judgment, and resilience in the face of misunderstanding. It expresses a raw emotional journey, filled with metaphors of cosmic and mythological references that highlight the tension between a sufferer's true self and the distorted perceptions imposed upon them. The ending is both haunting and defiant, shifting from the vulnerability of feeling buried by others' misconceptions to a powerful claim of identity: “I am now the skeletons etched within the cataclysmic aftermath of your shallow misconceptions.”
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Date: 9/5/2024 5:06:00 AM
Dear Empress, Wonderful and insightful poem! Because of your unique and deep understanding, you should join my profession as a therapist who helps clients to traverse that stigma, whatever that is. I was teaching a group of therapists yesterday that we should not throw around Borderline diagnosis to everyone that does not want to meet our standard. You have truly given a voice to those who read this and battle those unconscious biases. I applaud you and stand next to you because there is too much unconscious abuse. A FAV of FAVs! - Blessings, My Dearest Friend, Daniel
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Date: 9/4/2024 1:04:00 PM
a powerful voice for those who are challenged by mental health issues...your pen glides on metaphorical lines , ink!
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Date: 9/4/2024 8:45:00 AM
Your many metaphors shine brilliantly in this exposition of human bias. It is a worthy subject that requires careful consideration of our selfish behaviour. There is also beauty in alliteration and references to classical deities. A superb poem.
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Date: 9/4/2024 7:10:00 AM
tainted trinket lost in the tangerine haze. Ooo yess alliterations!!! my purity remains unseen in growing darkness, damn that line is remarkable!! O distorted colors of the sun, child mmm.. tongue is silenced and tied to the twisted strings of broken instruments, *snaps fingers* .. ooo that ending stanza tho.. So remember, I was never the soulless monster hiding beneath your ignorant bed. But I am now the skeletons etched within the cataclysmic aftermath of your shallow misconceptions. it’s hits powfully papi.
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Date: 9/4/2024 6:47:00 AM
An important subject, I've written a lot about mental health/illness, it's very close to my heart having suffered and I work in the sector, but I just want to point out from a writing perspective, small point but your use of "helix" followed by fixation" is inspired, the "ix" form and sound, it's small things like that in a poem which stands it out for me, genius IE
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Date: 9/4/2024 6:11:00 AM
You've written on mental health a number of times and you know my situation. I won't pretend to know all the ins and outs of various mental disorders, but I've seen the torture and torment up close and personal, along with the stigmas attached. In the end, empathy and understanding (to the extent possible) are keys to acceptance, which goes way beyond tolerance. Your poem is superb
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Date: 9/4/2024 6:04:00 AM
I can relate to this poem so much . We are human after all . Love it
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Woody Avatar
Tom Woody
Date: 9/4/2024 5:52:00 PM
Most of us anyway...

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