Two girls in one… both of them me before I got the right mix of meds and therapy. A note to folks who have the same condition, please know I’m NOT making fun of anybody living with any type of mental disorder or chemical imbalance. I learned how to laugh at myself as part of my therapy and to be open to that wacky part of my heritage. I’m also part of NAMI Stigma Busters. Amy (For Poets United’s Poetry Pantry.)
DEPRESSED (a dirge)
Leaden footsteps dog my pace
Straining, forcing smile on face
Gravity has conquered me
Hard to muster strength to… be
Wheels are grinding ever slower
Ten more steps to my front door
Dropping bags and sloughing coat
Sitting in a sinking boat
———————————————-
MANIC (an effervescent Peter Cottontail hippity-hop)
Wow I feel great I’m late for work but it’s
not my fault this jerk on TV was sooooooooo
fascinating I had to watch this invention
and the audience was soooooooo enthusiastic
about it just twelve payments of $19.95 plus
shipping so I called oops that credit card
is maxed, went through three before I hit
the jackpot it’s a juicer that also vacuums
your cat whattaya think about that? Gotta
run run run I’m late for work wait there’s
the cafe need coffee and a biscotti really bad
catch you later what’s your name again?
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
vivinfrance
Your therapy is sirely the right one if it produces such vivid work as this. The co trasting moods are pointed so well by the vocabulary and the change of pace. Bravo.
Sharp Little Pencil
Wow, Viv, thank you for this. Each mood is expressed as closely as I could remember it. Authenticity is harder with the manic side, but some days, well…!
Debbie
Amy, you are such a wonderful poet and spokesperson too. That you can laugh and do this is helping others too! Thank you!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thank you so much, Debbie. I do appreciate the idea that I can help someone with my writing… Peace, Amy
pearl ketover prilik
Wonderful examples of both sides of a coin that many have in their pocket!
Enjoyed that line 2 girls on one….
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OH, Pearl, you are so right! A
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Will do, brudda! Love, Sis
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Ain’t it the way? Thank God my psychiatrist found a ‘merger’ for these two mood swings without sapping my creativity. Thanks! A
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Laurie, thanks so much for this. Coming over your way! A
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Yeah, that was fun to write, because I had to envision one of those days. Pretty much true, the whole thing! (Except I was talking to an actual person and not a telephone pole, LOL)
Sharp Little Pencil
Renee, thank you for sharing these intimate details from your family history. The more we talk about it, the less the stigma attached. I hope your daughter-in-law goes from suffering to coping to thriving. It is possible with the right combo of medications, plus counseling… and it sounds like she’s getting the right stuff, as it were.
Interesting how your hysterectomy helped with your depression (no, I wouldn’t endorse it as a cure either)… hormones? Hmmm…. whatever got your through it, hurray! THanks for your compliments and your input, Renee. Love, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil
Jae, this was a truly touching comment. Thank you for identifying the lack of self-pity. Really, I see humor in the most bizarre things, and the manic part cracked me up!