Teacher’s Pet
I don’t take a pill for depression
because I’m still waiting for its lesson
I’m in the front row with my hand raised
knowing the question and answer are the same
I don’t bring an apple or a butter knife to cut it
I’ve given up my preoccupation with boys
Now I think about which black dress
I’ll wear to the next funeral
and how to follow dry tears to their source
I know birds don’t sing for my entertainment
and every cast shadow recalls the presence of soul
Today I learned that sparrows don’t care who is watching
but pretty birds hide from view
I don’t take a pill for depression
because there is no easy truth
Most fear is distortion
Some sadness is golden
and sometimes the best singing is blue
___________Colleen Redman____dVerse Poets Pub___Imaginary Garden with Real Toads
April 25th, 2014 10:38 am
wonderful! you are very talented!
April 26th, 2014 1:54 pm
oy… i was never the one in the front row…rather in the back, occupied with other things…smiles… some sadness indeed is golden and i’m all for singing the blue(s)…
April 26th, 2014 2:46 pm
This is fantastic. Your use of repetition is skilled and the logic is undeniable. Sometimes pills are an easy way to refuse to learn. Excellent.
April 26th, 2014 4:06 pm
This is exquisite.. yes sometimes a balanced melencholy can be quite soothing… and sometimes funerals can be better than the suffering leading up to them
April 26th, 2014 4:42 pm
Hey Collen, This is strong and telling work – straight form the heart from someone who has lived.. Thankyou… With Best Wishes Scott http://www.scotthastie.com
April 26th, 2014 5:45 pm
Ah yes, the experiences life throws at us make us understand that to enjoy the highs, lows are necessary. As someone who has struggled with that black dog for decades, I would rather feel the pain, than have my whole life flat-lined. A fantastic piece of poetry.
April 26th, 2014 5:52 pm
All those feelings are what lets us know we’re alive. And I much prefer the simple sparrow with its clear, clean song–to the flashy songbirds whose warble lasts only briefly.
This piece has many layers. I liked it a lot.
April 26th, 2014 6:39 pm
may your strength be inspiration to others
April 26th, 2014 7:42 pm
Brilliant write, so powerful. Cheers!
April 27th, 2014 12:06 pm
Most fear is distortion
… such a powerful line.
April 27th, 2014 5:41 pm
love this, colleen.
April 28th, 2014 10:40 pm
This is amazing…depression as a teacher. So many lessons so beautifully expressed.
April 29th, 2014 2:05 am
A prisoner who loves prison… and depression as a hard school … lots of nuances and lines here which resonated with me. Golden sadness, no easy truth indeed.
April 29th, 2014 11:10 am
I’d say prison is a matter of degree. I wouldn’t say I love the prison, just that there is much to be learned from the inside and outside places we live. I’d try the pill without question if I found no pleasure in life, but the depression I write about is an ongoing thread and not the whole of the fabric. As it is, sometimes the med treatment is worse than the illness it is treating. It’s gamble.