The stars sparkle like
LED lights
Hung upon the walls of a celestial dorm
A college student in the skies
studies the small creatures below
She writes her essays on myths
that humans told long ago
Her professor grades the paper
judging not on fact, but on prose
Classmates chat in the halls
About classes, about dating, about parties
But the lunar lady continues watching
with a cautious eye
As we go about our daily lives

she walks into an abyss.
the light slowly fades -
she barely notices.

she starts to run
as her breathing quickens.
she claws at the abyss,
hoping for a way out.

she hears a voice,
soft yet secure,
that guides her.
the light appears as
she takes small steps.

she keeps walking
until the light engulfs her.
she is free.

A brain chemically imbalanced.

How could taking two little white pills every morning
slowly but surely resolve eight years of major depression
ameliorate symptoms that strangle the mind and spirit,
destroying self-worth, competency, basic functionality.

Despite a set-back of a month of unstable, barely restrained
suicidal thoughts, whole-heartedly consuming every minute
of conscious thought and shattering already severely fragmented
sleep, the only repose from the onslaught of endless thoughts
each one affirming deservance and supplying means to an end.

The vile depression, mind-warping, heart-marring, shape-shifting,
perspective-rearranging, adapting to every new environment,
clawing its nightmare-grip further into my chest day after day,
haunting me even in its remission: the depression was sinister.

Body and brain scarred and healing, starved synapses react,
a regiment of medicine, taxing-thought, and long-scarce love,
but indisputably vital: taking two little white pills every morning
slowly but surely resolves eight years of major depression.

A brain chemically balanced.

Sunlight streaks in, gold and sharp,
One blanket is tossed to the floor,
The other is wrapped around you, tangled in your legs.

You stretch beyond the scope of the bed,
Disorientedly breathe the early morning in,
And cover me with blanket seized in your sleep.

I am draped, like royalty, only in the finest,
Your arm adorns and grounds me.
I understand your appreciation for weighted blankets.

My mind cannot wander or worry or plot my demise in your arms.

One hundred and three stories above a city
With jagged edges and winds that cut

With accidents that spill blood,
Fires that deafen,
Viruses that debilitate and exhaust,
Dread overflows from the hearts and hands of the people who love their city, their home

Distress enkindles compassion, defensiveness,
attentiveness until help arrives,
independence in those who know the responsibility of survival's continuum befalls on them,
necessitating community protect community,
beyond sleep-deprived eyes and peace-starved lungs

One hundred and three stories and counting of lives that cross and coalesce above a city
With jagged edges and winds that cut
With people who stand and shield one another from the piercing wind
Expecting nothing in return

“Why are you still here?”

The train still reverberates across rusty rails,
On schedule but abandoned, resounding far throughout the city,
Just as the streets are empty and surveilled,
The people sick with fear and fear of sickness.

“Why are you still here?”

There is nowhere to run in a pandemic,
No space safe for a burden as I,
One who protected themselves by escaping,
Vacancy in the cityscape no longer offering sanctuary.

“Why are you still here?”

I don’t have a home to return to,
I don’t have a family that will love me,
Though I am not the first nor the last to be lost,
Transient strays, surpassing the maladies of blood, build chosen families.

she stops at a plateau.
everywhere she looks, she sees
distinct memories from her past.
to the left are cotton candy skies,
fields of rainbow gumdrops.
straight ahead are the ruins,
ash and tar darkening the land.
to the right are serene clouds
paired with flashes of lightning.
she's not sure if there are
mountains or valleys ahead,
but after seeing her past,
and who she is now,
she's ready to continue her journey.