Why? — Summary

Why do I feel so numb and distant? Why does no one notice or care? Why? Am I a burden to you all. Just don't turn to me when I'm the only one you have to call

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

Four short lines, and almost all of them are questions. The speaker feels numb and distant, cut off from the people around them, and can't understand why nobody seems to notice or care. The repeated "Why?" works like someone asking the same thing over and over because no answer ever comes. It sounds tired and a little desperate.

The third line is the most painful: "Am I a burden to you all." It reads like a fear the speaker has been carrying for a while, and notably it has no question mark, as if they have half decided the answer is yes. Then the mood shifts in the last line. The hurt turns into bitterness. The speaker warns that others shouldn't come to them when they are "the only one you have to call." Judging by the wording, this is someone who feels used, valued only when they're needed. The overall mood is lonely, raw, and quietly angry.

Read also

More by Alex mclean

All poems
SadAlex mclean

missu

There are days where I feel so much, My heart pounds, my eyes sweat, my knees shake and my memories jog. They all go back to you, The feelings double,
SadAlex mclean

ever since you're gone

I've been restless Trying to forget you but you just appear out of no where, in my memories Since you've faded from my reality.
AngryAlex mclean

safe

You were supposed to be my safe place but you ended up being the reason I was in danger