Depression

Depression

It comes as a thief in the night;
As an uninvited guest;
As a sudden fog
Rolling in across the moor;
As unexpected thunder on a clear day.
It lurks along the hedgerow of your life
Seeking the opportunity to pounce.
It crouches in the darkness,
It hides in the light,
It comes from nowhere,
It comes from everywhere,
It is unwanted,
It is uninvited,
But it comes.
And when it comes
It drags you down,
You cannot function as you wish,
You fight,
You lose
And you name it.
You’re “out of sorts”
You’re “a little down”
You’re “not really with it”
You are depressed.

And people,
Well meaning people, ask you “Why?”
They ask you to explain,
They ask the reason.
Yet if you knew the “why”
If you could explain,
If you knew the reason,
You could deal with it,
But you don’t
And therefore cannot
For it just IS.
And you know it’s been here in the past
You know you’ve had it before
And you know you will get through
But while it’s there
With its tentacles holding you fast
You endure
You exist
But do not live.

In time you know it will pass
In time it will leave you alone
But you know
(And it knows)
That it will come back
(As it always does)
But you take heart
It has never won the war
Just the current battle
And you WILL survive.