Good, And You?
"Hi, how are you?" someone asks me,
"Good and you?" I say,
But I've stopped listening.
All I can think about is every other emotion I'm actually feeling.
Sad, I should have said.
Incredibly depressed.
No, not depressed, we can't use that word.
Its bad to be sad enough to need medication.
So I say "I'm good and you?"
And yet I'm lying through my teeth.
Hopeless, I should have said.
Absolutely void of everything that should keep me together.
But that sounds too much like depressed,
So I just say "Good and you?"
And even though I'm no longer listening,
I hope they can't see how I really feel.
Angry, I should have said.
That I'm stuck with these burdens.
That I must go through this and there is nothing anyone can do for me.
So I say "I'm good and you?"
And hope next time it'll be the truth.