Editor’s note: Please know if you live with diabetes or parent a child with diabetes this poem may bring up difficult emotion for you. This past week, two young people with Type 1 diabetes perished. I was moved to write a poem after learning about their deaths that occurred just days apart from one other. My heart felt broken as I mourned for their lives lost. Putting these words onto paper was a way for me to express some of the grief I was feeling. Living with Type 1 diabetes, whether one knows the individual who passed away or not is irrelevant. When one is given an exit pass and leaves our shared community too soon, we all feel the ripples left in the pond.
Editor’s note: This poem was written in the last few months during a particularly rough patch of diabetes management that I was experiencing. Diabetes can become unruly and difficult to control when anything else in life comes up – stress, an infection, etc. As we celebrate November’s Diabetes Awareness Month, I chose this poem to share because I think it is important we look at the many ways living with a challenging condition like diabetes can make us feel and be honest about the emotions we sometimes experience. If you are a friend or family member, you can rest well knowing I do not struggle like this daily. And if you know someone that has diabetes, show your support by checking in with that person once in a while. Let them know you care. Thank you.
What others don’t see
You don’t see how much I struggle
How scared I really am
How much this condition affects me
And how I’m really looking for people to understand
Why is it so hard
I hope you are having a good week and maybe enjoying some of these last few nice days of Fall! I enjoyed a splendid four mile walk yesterday while taking in the warm 60 degree weather and sunny blue sky. I was content. I plan to do the same today and the weather is cooperating yet another day. Joy!
Last week I started a brand new series called, A poem for Tuesday. Well, it’s Tuesday — so here’s another poem for you!
A note about my poems…
Today I bring you the first installment of new poems — fresh off the press! Last week the entire DOC rejoiced in fun and creativity on Diabetes Art Day which was September 24. As some of you already know (but for the rest of you who do not) instead of much art coming out for me, poetry did! As I have never been a poet or used much creativity since I was a child, it was a big surprise for me.
Hello! I am sharing with you today my final two poems that I wrote in honor of Diabetes Art Day. As I have shared in earlier posts this week, I wrote quite unexpectedly five poems for Diabetes Art Day. I have been sharing one every day this week and today I bring you the last two.
Diabetes Art Day was on Monday this week. Unbeknownst to me, as I sat down with a pencil and paper, I had a few things to say. Five poems quickly poured out of me in a short period of time. This may be the one I resonate with on the deepest level.
As requested, here is another one of the poems I wrote for Diabetes Art Day yesterday. Read this post to read another one of my poems and learn more about Diabetes Art Day and my experience with it. I ended up writing about five poems for the occasion so I will be sharing one with you almost every day this week!