The demons are swarming mocking you, laughing at you you run for a safe corner where they can’t pursue

We all lose our way sometimes Even the best of us We fall into the dark and can’t get back out

Something small and simple cuts deep tearing you apart, piece by piece You struggle to recover and understand But thinking is like sculpting with dry sand

Some days, life drags you down and you can’t carry on alone but know that it’s okay to need someone there

(For my friends at NAMI Rochester)

When we stumble and fall you stop and help us to stand You support us until we can walk all the while, making us believe we can

Someone planted a thought deep inside your mind they watered and tended it and it was so unkind

I believed that I was rotten vile, so easily forgotten An evil creature right to the inside Made to be tossed aside It’s so easy to see that no one wants to be around me Broken, disgusting, creepy that’s how I learned to see me But maybe there is something more Maybe I can leap into the sky and soar

I don’t feel beautiful today I can barely get up and move Why bother pretending anymore? What am I trying to prove?

I’m trapped here inside no matter how many times I’ve tried to escape this empty pit The dark, the cold, this is it The past has swallowed me whole My regrets and misery have taken a toll So I’m left to wander, always lost Wondering if my choices were worth the cost Then I look out and see something new and my hope shines through Cos even though this journey is my own I don’t have to walk it alone

Dear Friend,

I know tonight you can’t keep it together I can hear you reciting reasons to carry on