Honesty

Honesty is a lonesome place

When you’re lying on the ground

And you find yourself

Unable to will yourself to move

You can’t tell whether it’s the force

Of gravity or the weight of disappointment

That keeps you there,

But you know you should get up.

 

You can give yourself a thousand reasons

To let that spot be your final resting place

But you will not die here, not today.

 

Are we not made a little lower than the angels?

And are they not reaching for those that

Find themselves knocked down, knocked up, or knocking?

Pity would tell you that it’s safer on the ground

Where no one cares and no one cares to look.

Pity would tell you that it’s someone else

Who put you there and that it’s their responsibility

To fix it for you.

I promise you the one that left you there

Will not be coming back to help.

 

God gave you two arms and two legs,

Get Up!

And if He didn’t provide you with those,

Are you too proud, too scared, too embarrassed,

To shout?

Is your life not worth one shout into the darkness

Hoping beyond hope that someone who really cares

Will pull you up and out of your nightmares?

And what if I told you that your first rescuer

Is the face you see in the broken mirror;

When you dare yourself to look.

                                                                           

When you look into your own eyes

Do you see a human being?

Or do you see depression, addiction, and mistakes?

Look again.

 

Look again when you feel yourself slipping.

When you can’t wake up, can’t sober up,

Can’t put your head up, that’s when you look.

When you cannot stop for even a moment,

Because you’re shooting, or you can’t look up

Because a razor calls your name,

Or an abuser condescends to text again,

That is when you look.

And if you can’t see a soul worth dreaming for

Ask someone else.

 

But for now, for today, for this moment,

Because of last night, last week, or last relationship,

Get up. And God bless you.

 

You can give yourself a thousand reasons

To let this spot be your final resting place

But you will not die here, not today.

Find another time and place to die

Your story does not end today.

Comments

Additional Resources

Get AI Feedback on your poem

Interested in feedback on your poem? Try our AI Feedback tool.
 

 

If You Need Support

If you ever need help or support, we trust CrisisTextline.org for people dealing with depression. Text HOME to 741741