Poetry

Recently there was an article about a young man who took his own life. The article said that this was a man who struggles with mental illness all of his life - he was bipolar. The stigma of mental illness is so difficult for those who fit it everyday. This young man had served an honorable mission and had a young family but lost his battle with the illness. I know that I missed National Poetry month but here is an attempt at a poem for those who suffer with mental illness.

The battle I am told is not real,
I have fallen down the dark rabbit hole,
I crawl and I fight,
I struggle to find the light.

Here, take this pill and all will be well.
I don't want to roll out of bed,
I fight and struggle between my body and my head.
There is no light ahead, only the darkness lay before me.

I climb and I fight and search for the light
My view is not like others,
It is distorted, not bright.
I desire to find the beauty and light.

I rise from bed to begin a new day,
"pull myself up from my bootstraps," or so they say.
I go through the day trying to find the happiness I so desperately seek,
searching faces and watching the joy that others can see.

I look forward to the day I will see what others see,
but as of today, I look but can not find what they see.
I crawl into bed and hope sleep arrives quickly to take the pain away,
I will wake again tomorrow and fight the battle of another day.

This is probably not the best thing I have ever written but it was rolling through my head so I thought I should write it down before it is gone.