Feeling nervous, anxious, frightened,
worried, on edge?
Hearing voices--
and they can all hear your thoughts,
and you can hear theirs too--
Feeling detached or distant from yourself,
not knowing who you really are
or what you want out of life,
Not feeling close to other people
Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless,
Sleeping less than usual,
more risky things,
aches and pains,
valium and glue
//(thoughts strung together while working... phrases pulled from the DSM5 Cross Cutting Symptoms Checklist that seemed like they should be a poem)
_________________
Stop thinking so much! It's making your head hurt and making it hard to sleep. Breathe in and out again. The world won't fall apart while you close your eyes. Breathe in and out again. Feel the spray of the fountain, the sun on your arms; make eye contact with every stranger that walks past. Imagine what their lives must be like—no, stop. Focus on not focusing on anything. Stop thinking so much!
How can I stop thinking when I have the potential to save the world? How can I go to sleep when I have the power to save lives, or—by inaction—to forsake them? How can I rest when I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders? How can I pass this burden on to anyone else, knowing just how heavy it is? No, I'm fine, really; no, I don't need to sleep; no, it's quite alright, I'd love to help, no problem really.
__________
42 dollars in my bank account--
I really should know better by now
and I don't know what all this fuss is about,
why my mind always swirls up with doubt,
why I only hear in whispers or shouts
but am deaf to anything in between.
And I don't know how to turn down the noise,
how to weather the storm with grace and poise,
and I guess it just comes down to making a choice
but again and again I just self-destroy--
That's enough!
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