When you are reading a book
And in the midst
Of a great chapter
You feel a tug on your chest
And suddenly
You are there
Living that book
And you are exhilarated
When that character jumps off a cliff
Or takes down the bad guy
And you can feel the sudden wind
The onrush of emotions
Tingling in your soul
But then
Right as the character makes a last stand
You hear
“TIME FOR DINNER!”
And you close the book
Realizing that you are here
Not in that book
And you head downstairs
For dinner
But after dinner
That book will be waiting
For you to pick it up
And finish that chapter

You’ve had a great day
Talking with friends at school
Planning a surprise birthday party for your friend
Flirting
Laughing
Crying
Hating
Loving
Then your mom tells you
That it is time to go to bed
And you get into your PJ’s
Brush your teeth
And prepare for the war
Not a physical war
But a mental one
Between you and your conscience
It happens every night
And you almost always lose
Giving way
To let the depression and the fear crawl
Into your soul and make you feel like you
Failed
****
Are worse than everybody
Shouldn’t be here
Have no reason to live
And every night, you can’t stop it
Its job isn’t clear
But somewhere in the unclouded brain of yours
You know that it is lying
And you are a great person
That you have supportive friends
Good grades
Loving parents
And when you find this trove
Tucked away in possibly
The hardest to reach corner of your brain
You feel better
And you win the battle that night

That moment when
When you are driving to
The pet store to look at the adoptions
Your parents say that they are only looking
But you end up with a dog anyways
It always happens
No matter what they say
You find that perfect dog
With its cute eyes and beautiful coat
And you have great memories together
But then one day
The dog is sick
And you take them into the vet’s office
And they say that it may be time
You cry and cry
Because you know this is the right thing to do
But it hurts so bad
Then you realize
That while it is sad
Your dog is now in a happy
Painless
Fun
Inviting
Place, and your dog
May even get to meet your past pets
And your ancestors
This makes you feel better
And you get over the sadness
But that dog will always hold a place in your heart

Seeing you one day in school
My heart gave a flutter
And I started to have feelings for you
We admitted we had feelings for each other
And had great times
But then
You moved to a new school
And my heart was crushed
You said you would
Text me everyday
And meet with me on the weekends
But you didn’t
And you stopped texting
I held onto the hope
That you still loved me
Even though I knew
That you had found someone new
Then one day
You texted me
Saying that you had a boyfriend
And my heart broke
I wished that it was all a dream
It wasn’t
But now I know
You and me aren’t
And weren’t ever
Meant forever
And you broke up with him
While I can still say HA
Because I found forever
With somebody
Who won’t leave
For another guy

When you get into middle school
And everything you know changes
Your friends aren’t with you anymore
You want to go back
To when everything wasn’t so new
And you didn’t have so many responsibilities
Then, you realize it’s over
You survived 6th grade!
And then...
Right around the middle of 7th grade
Is when it happens
To most people
You’ve been burned by love
And you become host
To depression
Everyone jokes about it
But when it reaches its tentacles into you
It isn’t so funny anymore
Please, always  know
No matter how hard it tugs
You into its evil pit
Of endless darkness
You will get through
And find the light
That leads you out
Of that pit
And things will be okay again

When you get out of elementary
And you start craving for love
Whether for support or the joy of it
You feel like you’re flying high as a dove
Then it all comes crashing down
As you realize
That they like somebody else
And you fall
Into a pit
Of seemingly never ending sadness
And you throw a fit
That the one you loved left
Until you see another somebody
And you find they have feelings for you
And this cycle goes on
And on
And on
Until you find that one somebody
And then you dawn on something
That you and them
Are meant for each other
Forever