Hey you! Yeah, you with the two ears and the look of total indifference...today is your lucky day. I am going to take you on a whirlwind tour of my very soul. Sit back, grab a cup of cocoa, and let me tell you about my crippling depression.
 
No way man, I don't want to bum you out. It just seems important that you know all the minutia of my personal life. I know we only just met, but it feels so right for me to tell you about how I sometimes find myself crying for no reason. It's not that I'm lonely, or upset, or even lacking support from friends and family; I'm just overwhelmed by a debilitating sadness that shrouds my every thought with insecurity and self-doubt.

I know -- it does suck. But every cloud...you know? And my silver lining is the self reflection provided by these emotionally raw episodes. Sometimes I write poetry. Yeah...I do. Would it be awkward if I read you some? No, it's not a big deal at all, I'd be happy to share it with you. Yes, I'm sure--don't worry, it's my pleasure.

Ready? Okay. This one's called "Nebulous":

I tumbled into nothingness
a space unending
barren of life, void of feeling
falling ever deeper into the bottomless pit.
Can you die here? Or are you just forgotten?
Cruel silence answers me.
Is that all there is? A deafening quiet.
Hope laying ragged among the dark wasteland
shocked at the cruelty of squandered dreams.

What did you think? Really? What specifically did you enjoy about the overall tone? Yeah, I know, that's exactly what I was going for. I wrote this poem after my cat died. I totally felt like I was floating through life on my own, and nothing was ever going to get better. You know how that is, right? Anyway, Skitters -- that was my cat's name, btw -- had an extended fight with leukemia before he finally succumbed to the disease. It was a really rough time in my life, and it didn't help that I had some sort of chemical imbalance thing going on.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about my chemical imbalance. Well, basically my serotonin levels were all out of whack and the littlest thing would set me off, so you can only imagine what happened when I lost Skitters. It was a real rough patch, but I'm working through it. I have sessions once a week with a therapist that helps keep things in perspective, and I'm on a couple different medications that have gradually helped me regain the ability for social interaction. The only thing that makes my depression a little bit easier is telling people like you all about it.

Anyway, did you want to hear another poem? Oh...that's cool. I should probably get going, too. Don't worry, though; give me your email address and I'll send you a link to my LiveJournal. It's got a bunch more poetry and some really profound thoughts about life and stuff. I write the best poetry when I'm depressed.