“Goodbye Calamity”

“Goodbye Calamity”

Dear Depression,

You crept into my life like a shadow,

slowly inching your way towards me

as the brazen lights dimmed.

Persistent and ruthless, you began

to dull my edges; poisoning my

spirited emotions and perceptions

with your cruel and dogmatic law.

Dear Depression,

You clouded my capacity to discern, blocking

every ray of confidence and optimism with

grim, impending clouds of shame and uncertainty.

Stealing my ability to sincerely live—to be

vulnerable, satisfied, fearless—you replaced me

with a puppet you so covertly controlled,

enclosing me in a prison of isolation.

Dear Depression,

Your presence bereft me of my vitality,

exhausting my reserves of energy and

draining my will to gracefully persevere.

However,

the absence of my prized autonomy

gifted me the ability to sympathize; to recognize

the ongoing battles fought around me; to be the

restoring compass to the lost and hurting.

Dear Depression,

Thank you.