Flutter By

I feel strongly about the lack of awareness in this world about mental health issues and emotional disorders. Depression affects something like 1 in 3 people at some point of their lives. Anxiety disorders are just as common. There seems to be an increase in the mortality rate from suicide, particularly in young men. Just recently a young 13 year old boy in Cairns, who had been missing for over two months was found dead about 200m from his home. Noone knew he was depressed. He was popular and always smiling, and he achieved well at school and had an active social life. How long had he suffered in silence?

And only days ago, Jay Dee Springbett, an A&R executive for Sony music – but best known for his stint as a judge on Australian Idol – was found dead in his lounge room. It appeared he had suffered cardiac arrest. He had prescription drugs nearby. By all reports, he was a good man, full of cheer and good humour. He was bright spirited and his untimely end is a devastating loss to his friends and family. His funeral was held today in Sydney. How long had he suffered in silence?

Too many people suffer in silence. I know what that silence sometimes sounds like... and there is no denying that the silence people suffer in leads to way too many lives ending much too soon. For Jay Dee, for Declan, and for all the people who left this life prematurely, this poem is for you. For anyone else who has or is suffering in silence, please speak up. No-one should ever have to suffer in silence. Depression is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of feeling things more intensely than others. If you hold out your hand and ask for help... that is a sign of strength. This poem is for you as well.


FLUTTER BY

Flutter by my butterfly
Dream of the deep blue sky
Fly like an eagle
Way up high
Listen closely to the ocean’s sigh
Fight like a warrior
With a spirit bright...
Flutter by...
Beautiful butterfly
Open your arms to forever
And fill your heart with a smile
Don’t cry
Just flutter by...
Let the truth do the talking
And your smile whisper to the sky
The secrets of the heavens
Let there be no question why
Close your mind to the darkness
Let life not pass you by
For the world is much too precious
And the stakes are much too high
Flutter by my butterfly
Dream of the deep blue sky
Open your arms to forever
...just flutter by