By Punam JR
Preface:
A lot of times, people battling depression want to be better but feel stuck in a bottomless pit out of which they see no way out. This poem attempts to express the pain of depression and the trap that keeps the person stuck.
In that pit, I see a face
Benign, sorted, calm, all grace.
Beckoning to me, calling out my name...
But I don't recognise, I tried in vain.
I am like the walking wounded
Tired eyes that haven't slept.
I am like the wingless bird
Her screeches no one had heard.
A fallen angel had once confessed:
Sometimes, angels need saving too.
Why, oh why, could you not see my sadness?
I might an angel be! And yet...
I am the walking wounded.
By a deep dark void I am surrounded.
Dare not come near me, O love!
For consumed in it, you shall get.
It's not a haven where thou should dwell
And not a home to which one may return.
In my chaos, as I seek some calm,
I need you to forget me... and yes, move on.
My world is no more a forest green
I see everything has lost its sheen.
I am the walking wounded, O love!
As I walk, blood will be shed.
My wounded heart dare not love again.
Yes, the past is past — bygones be bygones.
A heart once burnt cannot be whole again,
For the embers never die down — they keep rising.
I am the walking wounded — I do not want to be.
How do I detach it from this identity?