To Myself
At first, you terrified me
You upended, distorted my world
Turning big into insignificant
And small into colossal
Taking steps forward
Had never been so difficult
Like I shouldered the weight of two people
You pressed down on, as if you were above me
Your reign continued
Until I realized I needn’t shoulder you alone
Friends who carried my weights, covered my ears
Until your melody deafened
The same broken, lackadaisical melody
Quietly reverberates, like a broken record
I understand that you may never fade
Like a stubborn, languid parasite
We now live an uninspired symbiosis
Growing acclimated to your screams
But by noticing your weakness
I’ve found my strength
Harrison Foster, 13-15, MICDS
This piece was a way of expressing my longstanding struggle with mental health issues that I’ve compartmentalized. I’ve thought at length of how to express these feelings, but have never really tried to put them on paper. It took me a while to articulate them sufficiently, but I think I’m happy with the end result.