The Depth Of Depression

Depression is a darkness no one else can see,

A weight that settles somewhere underneath me.

It steals the color from the brightest day,

And makes every ounce of strength feel far away.

It turns silence into something painfully loud,

And loneliness can linger even in a crowd.

It hides behind smiles, behind “I’m okay,”

While quietly draining the light from the day.

It makes tears fall without a reason why,

And leaves exhaustion where dreams used to lie.

It makes small things feel impossible to do,

Like carrying a world that nobody knew.

Some days hope feels distant and thin,

Like a battle I don’t know how to win.

But beneath the darkness, something remains,

A quiet little heartbeat beneath all the pain.

A part of me still reaches for light,

Still searching for a reason to fight.

I don’t have to heal all at once,

I only have to keep moving, even if it’s just once.

Depression may be deep, but it isn’t all of me,

It cannot erase who I’m still meant to be.

So I’ll breathe through the moments that hurt,

And remind myself I am more than my worst.

The darkness may stay for a while,

But somewhere ahead, there will be another smile.