The Book of Poetry

Darkness

We all start out the same; small, helpless, and screaming. We all have the same goals; to live a happy life and have a family. We all have some sort of education; whether it be reading, writing, or speech. But by this time, most of us aren't the same.

Those who learn to live life the way they want and by their own preferences live happily, but others are kept in the darkness of their past. The mind doesn't allow them to leave their cages that were once the only thing that kept them safe. But now that metal chamber is nothing but a prison; securing their positivities within the merciless grips of pain and sorrow.

These people are the ones that we look over, the ones that hide their problems. The ones who cover up their misfortunes and don't verbally cry out for help. These are people that express themselves through pen and paper, but sometimes the pen is a blade and the paper is skin. These are the people who end up killing themselves because they think that there is no other way to escape the umbrella of despair that hangs over their heads. The umbrella that blocks the bright rays of happiness and joy.

We walk around, seeing these individuals as normal people, though we blind ourselves from the problems that they suffer so we don't feel the pressure of guilt for not helping. Our minds are clouded from real world problems as we hide behind the myths and legends of disorders. We cannot perceive the demons that cling to their shoulders, whispering horrible nothings into their ears. We think that we know all the basics of depression and anxiety, but we know nothing.

Depression isn't something that can be healed with the contents of a first aid kit. We are given medicine, but the pills do nothing but cloud the mind, making you think that they're helping. Medications pull the mask over your problems; the paper bag of unknowing that has a smiley face drawn in with washable ink. The smallest tear could fade that grin within a matter of moments. It's fake. None of it is real, but doctors and phycologists say that it works.

Have you ever listened to or read the side effects of anti-depressants? Insomnia, weight gain, and suicidal thoughts. Insomnia is the reason young people fail school, which is why they drop out. Weight gain causes a negative feeling towards your self-worth, which just increases your problems by ten hundred. And suicidal thoughts? This is self-explanatory. Uncured depression causes you to kill yourself, but medications increase the thoughts of the act. Isn't the whole purpose of the medications to help you with your issues?

We are held down by boulders that are tied to our feet. We breathe in what we think is air but continue to drown in the river of helplessness, reaching out for someone to come by on a boat and grab our hand to help pull us out. But that doesn't happen for some people. The sun continues to set and darkness swallows you as the murky water fills your lungs. You can't swim up. Your arms are bound to your sides. There is nothing you can do except drown.

Darkness is the root of all fears for children; monsters hide only feet away but out of sight due to the blinding blackness. Children watch their closets and avoid stepping too close to the edge of their beds, the notion of something beneath waiting to grab them and pull them under etched into their young minds. Darkness never sleeps.