Instead of Depression
try calling it hibernation.
Imagine the darkness is a cave
in which you will be nurtured
by doing absolutely nothing.
Hibernating animals don’t even dream.
It’s okay if you can’t imagine
Spring. Sleep through the alarm
of the world. Name your hopelessness
a quiet hollow, a place you go
to heal, a den you dug,
Sweetheart, instead
of a grave.
Notes
Gibson beautifully reframes a heavy, paralyzing mental fog by actively choosing to populate the emptiness with small, weightless fragments of wonder. It serves as a vital testament to July's philosophy of lightness, showing that when the mind feels utterly crushed by its own shadows, survival is found in the quiet, radical act of looking at a blade of grass or a passing cloud. By shifting the focus from a suffocating internal weight to the fragile, beautiful details of the outside world, the poem reminds us that we can gently unburden the heart simply by allowing ourselves to notice the small sparks of life still happening around us. #poetry #depression #positivelife #life #summer