Beyond the Margin of Your Knowing

You speak of ADHD as a child's tantrum,

A phase to outgrow, a parent's failure to tame.

You call it a "TikTok trend," a badge of excuses,

Worn by those too weak to claim responsibility,

Too eager to explain the chaos of their lives.

But you, as much as you think you know, guess what you do not know.

You see scattered pens, forgotten tasks,

A mind that leaps but never lands.

You call it laziness wrapped in a diagnosis,

An industry selling pills for imagined woes.

But do you feel the static in our brains,

The hum of thoughts that never sleep.

You say, "I get distracted, too,"

And chuckle as if we are siblings in the struggle.

But distraction for you is a fleeting cloud;

For us, it's the storm,

Unrelenting, unyielding, a flood without reprieve.

Your ignorance drips like acid on a tender wound.

You laugh when we need captions to focus,

When a missed deadline feels like a lost war.

You scoff at accommodations,

As if fairness is a gift we haven't earned.

But where is your rage at the inaccessible world,

Are systems built for minds, unlike mine?

And let me tell you about me—

The one behind this poem,

The one who lives with ADHD's pulse

Hammering in every line I write.

I have walked the tightrope of deadlines,

The chasm of shame below,

Juggling thoughts like flames,

Dropping one to save another.

I have stood in rooms,

Eyes flickering to every movement,

Words escaped before I grasped their tail.

I have mourned mornings lost in spirals,

Afternoons spent untangling a single knot.

I have worn the mask of "almost enough."

While screaming into the void of "never."

But I have also soared,

Held by winds, you cannot see.

I have woven connections between constellations,

I've seen the big picture when others squint.

I have loved fiercely, felt deeply,

Dreaming wildly in colours you cannot name.

I am more than your ignorant, uneducated opinions.

More than your misinformed assumptions,

Your lazy stereotypes, your whispered doubts.

I am the rhythm behind the rushing river,

The drive that fuels ideas is too big for small minds.

I am the fire that burns through barriers,

The force that refuses to be diminished.

I am not broken because I don't fit your mould.

I am whole in ways you'll never comprehend,

With strengths, you overlook in your narrow view.

You say we are over-diagnosed,

But what of the decades we were unseen?

What of the quiet suffering behind polite smiles,

The children were labelled troublemakers,

The adults labelled failures.

What of the cost of being misunderstood,

The years stolen by your apathy?

You demand we explain ourselves,

Prove our pain, justify our existence.

But I won't package my truth

In a way that comforts your complacency.

I will not dilute my voice for your ease.

So here's what you must know:

I am not here to make you comfortable.

I will not shrink myself into a box you find acceptable,

Nor bend my experiences to fit your narrative.

I am not your curiosity,

Your pity or your cautionary tale.

I am a voice you cannot ignore,

A presence that demands to be felt.

My story is not yours to rewrite,

And my truth will not soften its edges for your approval.

I carry the weight of my challenges with grace,

And the brilliance of my mind with pride.

I am more than your fleeting judgments—

I am a revolution you are yet to understand.

I refuse to be reduced by your shallow perceptions,

For your ignorance and hateful opinions define you, not me.

I stand tall, a beacon of resilience and strength,

My ADHD does not limit me; it empowers me.

I rise above your narrow-minded views,

For I am more than your ignorance will ever grasp.

We are a force of nature, unyielding and fierce,

And your opinions will never define my worth.

My essence is beyond the margin of your knowing,

And I will no longer let the ignorance and darkness of others dim my light.