Blogger vs Troll: I am only human

Blogger vs Troll: I am only human

The vulnerability of bloggers

I've seen what you write so many times before
My skin has grown thick to your vitriolic bile
I know it's there, festering, bubbling, inciting
But never new or original in thought

I choose not to read
Telling myself aloud
Not to give you air, or feed your appetite
But sometimes the scab begs to be flicked

A test of resilience, the writer's litmus
A stolen glance, yes, you are there
Of course you are, you have nothing else
I skim, then close my eyes against your horror

Once we write on a public forum
We become your game
And leave all feeling at the door?
Robots with no right to reply

But I am first a Mum
Outside my comfort zone
That's my daughter you despise
My vulnerability acute

My heart sinks, acid rises
I pity you: a reminder
of the perceptions we are fighting to change
and another, thankfully, that I am only human

This post was written after glancing sideways at a handful of the comments left on a post I wrote about support for women after an antenatal diagnosis of Down's syndrome on the Huffington Post. 

Why should airing important topics that need public consideration require such bravery? 

Are we to be bullied into silence?

You might also like to read Outshining the Bigots or The Bigot I Have feared Meeting