Wore Fare

There’s an invisible war
Across the nation
Its prisoners seek emancipation
Not from chains or cells or kin
But hidden downs and stress within

They walk amongst us
Everywhere
Show no signs of wear or tear
Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters
Trying, fighting, like no one ought to

Faces smiling plastic grins
Masking all the down within,
Running jobs
and keeping house,
Loving kids, careers downtown

Shiny lives, and social media
Everyone else has no idea
Sitting pretty
On the face of it
Inside feeling pretty sh*t

Wondering how it all went wrong
Was it when selfie
became our song
Or maybe when ‘I’ became more than you
And ‘I’ cherished ‘my’ things and what ‘I’ do

Was it when ‘we’ became about ‘me’
When front doors shut
under lock and key
When we turned our back on community
Full on lives; insides empty

Let’s meet with each other for meals and walks
Long wanders outside
And heart to heart talks
Connecting in person – real face time
Not via script in a message online

Relationship’s key not commune IT
We’re in it together collectively
Let’s support one another
and be there to stay
Then if someone is struggling we’ll know straight away

They won’t have to wait till they simply can’t cope
for a tweet or a like, for a snap or a poke
They’ll have people round them
friends on hand daily
Emancipation from modern day slavery.