Disbelievers reign

I am your learning curve.
It's OK, I don't mind.
Someone's got to do it, I guess.

I am your learning curve,
But could you go a bit quicker please,
It's just that my life's running out, you see.

I am your learning curve
Like thousands before me -
Epilepsy, alzheimers,
With lives too hard to bear.

I am your learning curve,
Misdiagnosed and mistreated,
Denied of our wisdom,
Left trapped in despair.

We are your learning curve,
Autistic, dysphasic,
Trapped deep in our silence
While the world screams us down.

We are your learning curve
Myalgic Encephalitis
A long word to use,
But a lifetime for us.

We are your learning curve,
Auto-immune, motor neurone disease,
Parkinson's, AIDS -
Too many to name.

We are your learning curve
And like so many sufferers,
So often, so often,
It's we who get blamed.

We are your learning curve,
Facing hostility,
Disbelief, disapproval,
Judgement and disdain.

We are your learning curve,
Thrown out on the kerb side,
Thrown out of the train ride,
Left to struggle in pain.

We are your learning curve
Like thousands around me,
Left out in the shadows,
Under disbelievers' reign.