We didn't know it was all in our mind.
We didn't know we were being unkind to ourselves.
How we let ourselves get bad.
We didn't know that we were cruel
To ourselves.

Why couldn't we forgive our own mistakes,
Like we did the ones that others made?
We never practiced self-defence,
Unless it was to wrap us round in chains.
Why couldn't we be good
To ourselves?

We didn't mean to hurt ourselves.
We didn't know reflection was unhealthy.
How wandering round our minds,
We were letting life slip by,
And now reaching out for help
Is the best thing we can do
For ourselves.

Notes:
Naomi Ward was the women's acute ward of 'The Retreat, York', a pioneering mental health Hospital with a 200 year history (which is now a Mental Health Clinic, no longer offering inpatient therapy). 
Ironically, it was also where I found paid work as a part time cleaner and mealtime assistant, during some of the year of absence that I had to take from University to deal with my own mental health issues. 
This was the first of a few poems inspired by different aspects of my experiences and feelings working there.