I have written the poem below knowing full well a good percentage of those who read it will be quick to judge. Some may ignorantly say, “Just do the right thing and live a normal life,” but I can say from the bottom of my heart that it’s not that black and white. People need to open their eyes to the real problems people face in life once they have made a few bad choices.

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We are all human beings and we have all had very different experiences in life. We have faced different mental health issues, and we all handle things differently. Some can do things better than others and some struggle with issues some of us find easy to manage in our lives.

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We are quick to judge, and I am guilty of that.

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I have been that person before, and it’s a real eye-opener when you find out the real issues that some people are facing. You try to put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine facing the same circumstances as them. But we can’t because we are not them.

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There is no way to accurately make judgement on someone for what they have done or are doing at times in their lives.

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Tonight, I found out that my cousin who was three months younger than I am took his own life. It made me think of everything that I have written above. As much as I tried to think what could have been that bad for him to take such a dramatic path, I just couldn’t do it. Because it’s not me.

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I have no clue what he was feeling, no clue what he had been through, and it was not my place to make judgment. We can’t say he was selfish; we can’t say anything because we don’t know what he was feeling. I can only say that it’s an extremely dark and lonely place to be when you are in that mindset, when ending your own life comes into mind. I can say that because I have experienced it, and thankfully I am still here to write about it.

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Some of the poem has nothing to do with the news of my cousin’s passing, but it made me think of my life and the judgements I have faced and thought about myself. We tend to forget that the ones that judge us more than anyone else are ourselves.

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We are our biggest critics. We criticise ourselves for hurting loved ones, being a failure, letting people down, and we judge ourselves harshly. Then dealing with the judgement from others on top is sometimes too much to bear.

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The main thing I want people to take from this is don’t be quick to make judgement.

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Don’t say that you know how someone feels, because you simply don’t.

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Think about how you and your actions affect others and what you can do to make someone feel better or to help someone who’s struggling. Try to be open minded and think to yourself that, just because you see things in a different way, it doesn’t mean that that’s how everyone sees it. Leave the past in the past and focus on the now. Be the best person you can be for yourself and others.

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If what I have written helps one person think differently, then I am grateful that I have made a positive difference in someone’s life!

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Thanks for reading,

Jake

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To Jonno – By Jake

Disappointment once more, once again I’m not there.

For my family who spend every day in despair,

I selfishly think about how I’ve been wronged,

When the trauma for those outside is sadly prolonged.

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I’ve missed weddings and funerals, opportunities gone.

Three meals a day, shelter, while out there, hearts are torn.

Why do I keep hurting my loved ones that care?

And all I can think is why me? It’s not fair.

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We’re blind to think that we don’t cause them pain,

When we come back to prison again and again.

This place, a reunion, we laugh and we joke,

Talking shit, drinking coffee with a tea-bacco smoke.

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We’re put here for punishment, rehab and such,

But we learn about how to do crime just as much.

The government, cops, judges, have nothing to lose,

We are all just statistics, they’ve never walked in our shoes.

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We are all just numbers, caged and herded like cattle,

Lacking resources for the hundreds, and the demons we battle.

What’s rehabilitation? Freedom taken by force?

Let’s load them up with opiates and methadone of course!!

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We live in a world where the media rules,

And you believe what they say, you idiots, you fools.

Innocent until proven guilty, what an absolute lie.

In fact, it’s the opposite, they cannot deny.

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Let’s load them with charges, cops lie under oath,

Yet they wonder why prisons have seen such growth.

Do the crime, do the time, that’s justice they say,

Then why are we judged until the end of our days?

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Each time from now on that we make a mistake,

We question how much of our lives they will take.

We’re not judged on the crime, but our past is used,

In a system that is broken and has been abused.