An Itch on my Ear

Sometimes I get an itch on my ear.

An itch I know isn't really there.

I will rub, scratch, and bat at it like a kitten discovering catnip,

Until people around me tell me to stop or to see a doctor,

But I already see a doctor.

Only we don't talk about my ear.

We talk about how much I've slept, 

Or what I've eaten that day,

Or when was the last time I washed.

We talk about my homework and my classes and how I've been feeling in school.

I talk to her when I'm stressed or upset or frustrated or just down.

And some days when I feel all these things, when I haven't slept or eaten or washed,

On days when I have to fight the world and stick a smile on my face because I had yesterday off,

So today I am forced to function like a healthy person,

Those days it is easier to focus on an itch on my ear,

An itch that I know isn't really there.