This poem was actually inspired by the song Both Sides Of The Story by Phil Collins. I was listening to the song earlier and thinking about how people don't often hear both sides of the story. Instead, they seem to make their own assumptions, hear what they want to hear, and believe what they want to believe about someone without hearing them out and letting them have a chance to speak. I know that even on here, when I share my own story of survival, people don't always hear or read what I am saying. They read something I write and picking certain parts out, they focus on those and try to judge me on them. There are so many hearts out there that are calling out "Can You Hear Me." Yet people don't hear that call or answer it because they are too busy focusing on a person's flaws and mistakes rather than seeing the beauty underneath and finding out what really happened in their life. How will you ever know the truth and how will you ever be able to fully help someone unless you take the time to hear their side of the story instead of making assumptions based on what you hear from others. We need to answer these lonely hearts' calls, letting them know that yes, we can hear them and that yes we are here to help them make it through those hard times. Otherwise, they will continue to live on in silence, keeping it all locked inside which only hurts more. Sometimes all it takes to save a life is listening to someone share their story.


Can You Hear Me by Jenna Kandyce Linch

She lives her life from day to day
In one place too long she doesn't stay.
Home is not where her heart lies
Forced to make it on her own, she severed the ties.

Not much of her background does she reveal
She figures that to people her story wouldn't appeal.
The less they know the better
From her past she's all ready wearing a scarlet letter.

Avoiding eye contact, she always looks away
Because if asked about herself, she wouldn't know what to say.
Behind a mask, she covers up her fragile side
She's trying to salvage what's left of her pride.

Most of her life she's been told what to do and how to act
Even hearing about the qualities that as a person she lacked.
Pulled in every direction, she was expected to comply
Her own life back she couldn't buy.

People snubbed her for being different
To them though the truth was transparent.
Remarks she heard ware cruel and insensitive
It was tough enough that in a violent home she had to live.

To the life of an outcast she learned to adapt
Between controlling parents and peer abuse, her life was mapped.
In silence the emotional pain she suffered
Her voice continued to go unheard.

A fairytale life she didn't experience
That she lived in a happy, loving family was a false pretense.
Dreams she had were daily shattered
All she knew was how it felt to be physically and emotionally battered.

Every night she wondered if she even had a future
Especially when so many tears replaced laughter.
Finding freedom became her main goal
She longed for the day when once again she would feel whole.

Now she faces the world on her own
Yet for others' actions she still has to atone.
In places her heart is still broken
There are scars that remain from way back then.

Sitting by herself, she watches people pass her by
They don't seem to notice her as she lets out a sigh.
Just like before she's invisible to the world around
Feeling unwanted, she wonders if there's a place where love and hope abound.

She desperately wants to tell someone what she's been through
But after years of locking it inside, it's hard to know what to do.
The issues in her life she can't continue to ignore
There has to be a way to heal and move on to something more.

Taking the first step forward, her efforts get thwarted
Not listening to her, people leave her stranded.
Judgmental, on her a cold shoulder they turn
Her side of the story they don't bother to learn.

Adversity she meets as her story she tries to tell
Once again she finds herself crawling back into a shell.
The last thing she needs is more drama
She's all ready endured so much trauma.

Looking out over the water, she screams silently inside
How much longer will this pain she have to hide.
What people don't know or understand they seem to fear
Making their assumptions, the truth they don't hear.

A stranger walks by but stops in his tracks
Recognizing him as one of her peers from work, she braces for verbal attacks.
Instead, he looks deep into her eyes
Past the scars, he sees the beauty that underneath lies.

He hears her heart's silent cry calling "Can you hear me"
Knowing she's been hurt in life, he only wants her to be happy.
"I can hear you," is the only phrase he speaks
Releasing emotional tears, comfort in his presence she seeks.




'Can You Hear Me' Copyright © Jenna Kandyce Linch