Hussain Manawer: Can A Poem Save A Life

Poet Hussain Manawer speaks of his darkest struggle in the most imaginative way. We wish for you to share his message, and help him change the world.

Transcript

00:00I fought this battle for far too long. I went to war without recruiting an army.

00:07I stared at my enemy with two feet strong. I walked to this frontline like

00:14nothing could harm me and that my friends is where I went wrong. Soldier

00:21your enemy is approaching and it will last till morning. I have seen it too

00:25many times before when the midnight is falling. I went to war without recruiting

00:31an army. Mum it's me. I have been battling demons at night in my sleep. Mum it's me.

00:42I fought this battle for far too long. You see you did everything you could so

00:48please don't panic. No one likes me so I might as well vanish. See I write stories

00:54I write them on my arm. Only I can read them but the doctor calls it self-harm.

00:58When I bleed he tells me to put on a plaster but I'm depressed inside. There's

01:03no bandage for this internal disaster. When I speak of mum I talk mother nature.

01:08She created us all so together surely we should be greater. But mentally where we

01:12stand I am not in favour and to me that problem couldn't be any greater.

01:19We can sail across the Atlantic. We can put a man on the moon. We can discover

01:24life on Mars but we can't give our children food. Because mentally we have

01:28become detached from ourselves and society. So can somebody tell me it's

01:32okay not to be okay and do not tell me quietly.

01:37You see your peace of mind soldiers it makes no sense for us to die for it.

01:58Your war zone is hardship of course but it will lead you to a victory but you

02:02will have to fight for it.

02:07So don't you dare give in.

02:11None of your stories end here. It's only a chapter that has finished.

02:18So feel no shame in guilt in what you feel soldiers.

02:26So yes I went to war and I didn't have an army and I still stare at this enemy

02:33with two feet strong. I refuse to let it define me

02:40and I refuse to let it beat me.

02:45I refuse to have another sleepless night because of what lies beneath me.

02:50Me I'm gonna run to the front line like nothing could harm me.

02:56Because one rising star alone cannot light up the sky.

03:00Which is why I'm here to create an army of fireflies.

03:04So don't you dare give in. Mental health matters and that's the reality.

03:30you