Depression

Mired in muck. Appendageless. Sinking in shadowy whispers. Surviving is senseless. Eternity is a marathon with no bathrooms, no water, no finish. I pray for light, Satan pulls the shades No hope, no truth, no tomorrow. I need a friend to throw me a lifeline But they are all busy avoiding the muck. Spinning on their cotton candy bridges. They spew their words gilded with silk and honey Dripping from forked tongues. It's not until the subtle meanings catch the wind and scatter that the honey turns dark, And thick, and makes their teeth black and their hearts dull. I wait for the splash as another like me has had her life's bridge eaten by the acid of jealousy and fear. She screams, "THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!" And the muck bubbles and shifts exultant As it silences her cries and extinguishes her fire. Laughter falls like shards of glass from above, Because they know the truth but never speak it. An unwritten oath that all jail keepers vow. Lock the truth away like a bird in a cage until its colors fade, its feathers fall, and music is only a memory. A man dangles from a swinging cord Halfway between the mockers and the muck. His white collar hurts our eyes Smooth words of redemption that almost awaken my sleeping emotions. But then the cord breaks, and faced with the truth of our existence The man flees back to the bridge Our heads his stepping stones as he escapes to the sterility above. His collar stays white, His hands clean. His memory is short -- he doesn't even remember why he came. Or who sent him. He is the lucky one. Memory haunts me. I long to forget: How to love How to hurt How to breathe. My cocoon of woe promises no future flight It's a straight jacket of hate And my prayers just bounce off the padded walls. I need a knight; I get only night. I need a hand; I get a slap. I need understanding; I get overstepping. I know three things: 1. Nothing will ever be the same. 2. I will never trust again. 3. You cannot will a heart to stop beating. Sleep is my only friend, death my only goal. That is the truth that will set me free.