Pre-Life

 They talk about life before it happened.

Like there was some single event that caused it.

They don’t really know how it works,

How it creeps up on you,

How you don’t know it’s even happening

Until after you’ve drowned

and are laying on the bottom looking up.

 

The few that do, understand that is,

Pretend they don’t. They would rather

Not do their job and keep their secret safe

Than admit that they’re as fucked up

As the suckers that pay them to listen.

 

They talk about life before depression,

As if it actually happened.

But if it ever did I missed it,

Or simply don’t remember it.

They say we need to work with ourselves,

Try and kill the negativity

So that one day we can get back to that life.

 

To a life that I’m not even sure ever existed.

 

Reviews

[Delilah Dunn]

This is a great look at life from a vantage point most people do not use. I like, first of all, your comparison between the two "they"s. My interpretation (if I may) is that one they is the "Joneses" or the people who think that have it all figured out and they know how it works. These are the people who have never had life to smack them in the face and scream at them that they aren't worthy. Then we have the other "they"--these people have been smacked by life and screamed at and attacked by it perhaps, but they want to hide that; to cover it up because they want to pretend their lives are perfect too. And then there are people like us; like you and I, who, have felt the depression, have wrestled it, and not only do we glory in the struggle, but we write about it because it is the only way that we can show others our view of the world.
"They talk about life before depression,
As if it actually happened."
This stanza and the last line are my favorite because that describes "us". And "we" understand that life does not happen before or after the depression, but during it, because that is when we find ourselves, regardless of whether or not our definition of self is accepted. Please excuse my long-winded, wordy review, but I found this piece to be very thought provoking, real, and honest. Thank you for the great read.

[Robert Luna]

There I stand at the great void of life
seeing my shadow stand in unity with silence
Every step I make I feel a thousand empty lives
crush beneath my feet

Holding onto an imaginary grace
that was never mine in the first place
But the mystery of life seems to always escape my grasp
It's my life I have come to hate

I just want to take back the night
To only feel a little peace
it's been so long since I slept
Dreams were never meant for me it would seem

[Sarah]

Beautiful, contemplative, dark... I enjoy everything about this! Life before life is an impossible thing to consider, and comparing it to a life before depression is unique & interesting to read. Lovely poem! :)

[Wildecat]

This is a very deep and powerful poem, a pleasure to read.

Your fundamentals are very good. Nothing else I can comment there.

Your emotion is well stated here, you have brought forth the ability to let the other reader feel what you want to impart. That is very powerful.

A wonderful piece.

[Mr. Misanthrope]

VERY negative, and real till the last syllable. I can't put myself in your shoes here, as I have never had a REAL depression. The closest I have come to one are paranoid attempts at gaining pity from others who really want to help you. But I can FEEL this poem working its way into my system, and maybe, every other reader's too. You could say its an ode to reality and the things that people take for granted, such as criticising a goth or an emo for the way they dress, but I see it as a revelation, one of truth. You give the impression that you're not trying to change the one thing this world has developed into, this being a mass of xenophobia, and I respect that in this poem. You are writing for yourself here, and not as an eye-opener.

Great read, and thanks for the read request.

Luke

[Adela Muresan]

Hahaha..negativity to me is realism.
I think that life existed sometime .... but a very long time ago ( when the race was very naive ) , or maybe never :p.

To be sincere if I was in your shoes I would have made a sory out of this, or work on the flow a bit more.

A.M.