I’ve been there before.

In that dark place where the stark reality of life
is too much to bear and all that seems possible is
death. It has taken me
years to crawl out...

There are scars.

So many scars.

There is fear.

And anger.

And coldness that creeps out when my mind is exhausted.

I’ve been there before and some days, I slip back there
never knowing if I will be able to catapult myself to safety.

This rawness of emotion that the depressed person feels
is also what enables us to recognize it in others.

Our extreme empathetic nature often allows despair to scream
to us across great distances.

There’s a part of us screaming too, and that daft echo -
is what reminds us that while the struggle is hard,
there
is
some
relief….

There is a freedom in knowing
that we are not alone. In knowing
that although we often whisper in the dark,
a million whispers resonate
like
a scream.