• Adult Poetry,  Poetry

    Echoes

    “Echoes” Free-Verse, July-August 2017 Your ghost follows me around, haunting and taunting me. I don’t know if I miss you, or the me I was before you. Through the window, I catch a glimpse of you behind the trees— a shadow of who you once were to me, still frozen in time. Trapped inside these walls are lies I’ve tried to ignore, bubbling up in the peeling paint, all these years later. Echoes of past conversations bleed in my ears while I scream over the noise of what is now silent. Living in parallels, I guide the me I once was to escape the darkness into safety and light, though…

  • Essays,  General Thoughts

    What does depression (and anxiety) look like?

    Most commercials for antidepressants show people in despair, lying on a couch crying or dressed in baggy clothing with unkempt hair. Is that what depression looks like? Yes. Sometimes. But often, depression can look like a person who has their shit together. A career woman who gets things done. A soccer mom with perfect hair and perfect kids. A lawyer. A doctor. A musician. An artist. A movie star. A writer. Me. Anxiety medication ads often depict a person having a panic attack, complete with hyperventilating, rapid heartbeat and sweating. So that’s what anxiety looks like, right? Sure. Sometimes. It also can look like standoffishness. Indifference. Disengagement. Irritability. Forgetfulness. Me.