Love's cure for Loneliness

We sat in the classroom

He had made a referral to talk to someone

On the referral he circled hurt

I sat next to him and asked him what was wrong

He wanted to talk about love

Sam is his name

He is a young boy

Born with a stutter

And an intellectual disability

He cannot get the words out

But I could see

The poet in him

As poetry is not about how to talk

It about how to feel

He said he loved Ola

A beautiful student at the same school

He told me

He is in darkness but when she walks into the room there is light

You see

Sam was socially isolated

And his love for Ola was his cure

Even though she didn't even know

Her smile oh her smile

She's all that i need

After exploring his story

I discovered there was more

Sam was self-harming

Having suicidal thoughts and more

NIghtmare

Insomnia

And yelling at his mother

All day long playing videogames

To distract him from his need to belong

To be loved

And his love for Ola was his cure

Even if she didn't even know

What I have learnt 

From my work

With students with disabilities

Is that the word disability

Is a disability

It is not able to see

That the need for love and belonging is in you and me

And that

Sam was in perfect form

It is the system which is disjointed

Pointing in the wrong direction
Tearing hearts apart

Leaving those vulnerable out on a limb
Whilst we create labels to fit in