Only Child (2)

An only child 

Imagination flourishing

Because there’s no other

Way to go 

Playing alone 

Make believe

All alone

Coming home from school

Bullies seem to persist

No brother or sister

To have your back

You continue on

Twenties are fun

But hard when things crumble

No one to help you

Push through the growing pains

Parents want to help

Parents who have siblings of their own

They don’t know 

How to be without 

That extra support 

Fumbling through

The adult years come on strong

Everything hits you

Like icy sleet

On an rainy fall evening 

Loneliness pierces 

Through the skin

To the heart

You continue to push through

Until the sun comes out

But you’re still alone

Then comes the day

You get a call

Parents need you

To be the parent now

It’s on you

You will do everything you can to

For those who loved and raised you

Constantly knowing you are alone

Parents have gone 

And you are all alone 

Family exists

Aunts, uncles, cousins 

But you are alone 

Alone in your pain

Your loss

No one can or will understand

Life will never be the same 

You are truly alone

Could I Have Been

A rock & roll star

Playing your favorite songs 

An actress on stage and screen

Molding myself into the characters you love

A teacher

Respected by her students

A doctor or nurse

Healing those around the world 

A writer

Inspiring people with her words

A friend

Who was always there

A family member

Always thought about and cherished

Could I have been 

Anyone other than who I’ve become

I’ve tried it all 

And still feel like

No one people think about

As much as I think about them

Someone lost

In the darkest corners of my mind

Alone

Without any hope 

For what the future holds

Wandering aimlessly for a purpose

Trying everything 

I can grasp onto

And not succeeding

At any one thing

Losing myself to the void

That is life

Is that life?

An Answer

The walls have caved in

I’m all alone

I’m on my own

The dust is thick

Hard to breathe 

The weight is pushing me down

Every second I’m in this hole

What do I do

I know there’s no one coming

I can give up

Lie here

Until

My lungs

My organs

My bones

Are done

Trying to sustain me

Or can I fight

What is there to latch onto 

Will the air become clear

Will I be able to move

Just an inch at a time

Do I fight 

Do I give in

Is this the fate I have been designated 

Or is there more

A light pulls me

Do I go

I go…

It is either

The light of the end

Or a new hope for tomorrow 

It is an answer

Hope

So many people, who don’t truly suffer with depression or some forms of depression, realize what it means to be functional with these illnesses.

There are people who will tell you to just “be happy,” “Shake it off,” etc.

But they don’t realize that the struggle is so deep, that at some point in your life you don’t feel able to or deserving of having friends who don’t struggle. But they also don’t realize how hard it is to have friends who do struggle as well.

Friends who don’t struggle will try to understand or accommodate, or they will be those unfortunate few that tell you to just “get over it.” And those who do have similar experiences are always going through their stuff, so they can’t be there for you when you really need them because they are trying to survive as well.

So what to do about this conundrum? Who the fuck knows. If you’re lucky, you have continuous support from friends and family and you keep a stream of hope alive even in the darkest moments of the wretched disease. 

But when you have nothing or no one to go to at any given time… that’s when the darkness rears its ugly head. That’s when you are literally faced with life or death. 

No one who hasn’t gone through this will understand this concept. It may even scare them or make them think you are an even bigger freak than they thought. 

Nights are the worst for me. That’s when all of the sadness and desperation come seeping out. That’s when I know I’m alone. But that’s also when, I am teaching myself, that I need to channel those thoughts and feelings. That’s when I write. 

My poems start to shoot out of me like the blood out of one’s arm when they have reached no other outlet. That’s when I may hurt myself just to feel pain. Or when I cry until I can’t any more. But more and more that’s the time where I have to remember it’s not like this all of the time and I write. 

The worst thought for someone who is ready to end it is that slight hope of hanging on, but fearing we will only end up back in this place of desperation.

I’m learning that this is ok. Don’t get me wrong it hurts like fucking hell, but everyday and every night it passes. It is painful and I admit so many nights I want out. 

I don’t begrudge anyone who needs to take that way out either. But so far I hang onto a glimmer of hope. And even if I have to cut, cry and write sad poetry all at the same time I do it. Just to keep going until tomorrow.

So, if you are like me and you feel like you are “just done,” I hope that you find as many outlets as you need to get you through the night. And try to hold on. I hang by my fingernails most nights, and I do get tired of it, but the sun comes up and the day is new. So, I make the best of what I can, hoping that the cure or at least help that I need will come to pass.

An Answer

The walls have caved in

I’m all alone

I’m on my own

The dust is thick

Hard to breathe 

The weight is pushing me down

Every second I’m in this hole

What do I do

I know there’s no one coming

I can give up

Lie here

Until

My lungs

My organs

My bones

Are done

Trying to sustain me

Or can I fight

What is there to latch onto 

Will the air become clear

Will I be able to move

Just an inch at a time

Do I fight 

Do I give in

Is this the fate I have been designated 

Or is there more

A light pulls me

Do I go

I go…

It is either

The light of the end

Or a new hope for tomorrow 

It is an answer