Band Aids Poem by Maya Reid

I hate Band Aids
What do they do?
Cuz they sure as hell don’t fix anything
In fact, I think they just make problems worse
Just like foundation
Cover-up
Sending an issue into hiding
Doesn’t make it go away
Underneath the Band Aid
The wall
The front that says everything is A-okay
The wound
The sore spot
The problem
The issue
Festers still
Band Aids don’t have healing powers
One wrong move will rip them away
And you’ll feel so much pain
And underneath it still the wound lies
Worse than when you covered it up to begin with
Rotten and festering
Infected and spreading
And it’s still not something you can look at
So you find another Band Aid
Cover it back up
Pretend it’s all better
At least until somebody hurts you there again
And your façade falls apart again
And now the wound has gotten so big and ugly
That you can’t cover it back up
You can’t find a Band Aid big enough
You have to look it in the eye
Eventually you have to say
That, yes, there is a problem
A mini black hole
Sucking, gathering things as it grows
The Band Aid accelerating its escalation
I hate Band Aids
You can’t patch up a problem like that
Just make it go away
No, wounds require words
You have to talk about it
Soothe the pain
Then stitch it back up
Proper attention must be paid
If you want anything close to stability
No, Band Aids aren’t allowed
Ah, Goddammit – I cut myself
Now where the hell are my Band Aids?