Staying Alive

I know it’s hard sometimes

To stay alive

It’s a challenge some days to get out of bed

To just be alive and breathing seems

Like a monumental task

Like a herculean effort

When all around you are dissenting voices

And the voices inside

Scream nothing but discouragement

Some days are worse than others

But when your usual is just more

Of the same

Shit over and over again

When you have to convince yourself to

Get up and face another day

It can make even the easiest tasks seem daunting

So much so that any effort to improve

Things becomes an impossible mountain to climb

All the while you’re struggling against

Yourself and the forces

That threaten to overwhelm you

And drag you down

Into the inky blackness

Where you’ve been before and

Never want to venture again

There is hope

There is peace

Waiting on the other side

You just need to keep on

Even when every day is a struggle

Just to keep your head afloat

There hope and healing waiting for you

You just have to keep on fighting

Keep talking keep asking for help

Take the meds you don’t want to take

Cause you’re afraid you might change

But what is there to lose when you’re struggling

Against a darkness that threatens to overwhelm you

A darkness that if you let it will consume you

And once it consumes you if you succumb to

Its darkest urgings

Will attack all those you hold dear

Fight back against the storm

Rage against the waves

Freedom is for the reward for those who fight