Christopher Hall first caught our attention with his poem, 'Junk Drawer' which he read at the 2024 Wolverhampton Lit Fest and was subsequently published in our Sunday Morning Poet series, here. It went on to be our most widely read poem of 2024, and one of the most widely read items of any genre over the entire year. Christopher is a product of Wolverhampton University's highly acclaimed Creative Writing program.
I Matter
When I say I’m hurting,
I don’t just mean me.
I mean you,
And them,
And them, too.
I can’t count the people I hurt,
Because me hurting you hurts other people too.
People say I matter.
I agree.
I wish I didn’t.
You say I matter,
Like I’m going to change the world.
Like I’m making things better.
Like I improve anything by being here.
That’s what people mean when they say “You matter”.
I don’t matter like that.
No.
I matter like broken glass matters.
I matter like a wasp nest matters.
I matter like a wet floor matters.
Like black ice.
I matter like lit dynamite matters.
I matter, and I really wish I didn’t.
I’m sorry.
© Christopher Hall, 2025
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Main image by Laura Steinmetz from Pexels
More from Christopher Hall in Outsideleft, here
