Something Missing (Poetry)

He always was the odd one out — a cuckoo in the nest
The boy was troubled from the start — quite different from the rest
Too tiresome with his fragile health and rarely even seen
Not truly mad, yet not quite right — so vaguely inbetween.

They couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong for no one tried to find
What was going on inside his strangely closed-off mind
His eyes were always far away as though he gazed upon
A private world where on his back the sun more kindly shone.

If he was happy in his head, his brothers never cared
Excluded from their nursery games, they very seldom shared
Time together — leaving him to daydreams of his own
A busy house, ignoring him who lived a life alone.

His father shunned him and denied their blood could be the same
His mother, too, through shame of it, could barely speak his name
There seemed no way to hide the truth however hard they tried
The doctor came and signed the forms to have him certified.

Exactly what was wrong with him they never really knew
The screwloose child became a man — still damaged and subdued
And missing some essential part — the love he was denied
So locked himself inside his head and stayed there ’til he died.