This Is Winter

This is winter.

It's a depressing time of year

For all who deal with SAD.

Short days flash by

So fast that I barely notice
The sunlight.
The long cold night
Knocks on my front door
So very early.

I try not to let him.

But he slides into the cracks

Around the windows.
I hear him hum his dirge

When he does.
Once he is in,

He tiptoes behind my back

And pulls my shoulders down.

And, if that doesn't satisfy him,

He slithers up
And sits on top of my head.

He reaches down,

His fingers pull down

The edges of my lips.

I have spent years

On that river in Egypt,

Wearing a happy face.

I’ve done that all

In a faulty attempt

To convince myself

That I am impervious

To depression.

Today, I shall step out of that river

And choose to embrace

That life is temporary

And depression is part of life.
It comes and goes.
It leaves me gifts

That I rarely remember

To pick up.
Today, I shall pick one up.
It has two sides.
A dark side

That I feel every winter;

And another side

That feels different, somehow.

I shall embrace the dark

Knowing it is temporary,
And then maybe,

Just maybe,

I can touch the other side

When the days will
Eventually get lighter.