Darkness Is Coming

Darkness is coming

Lurking on hillsides

Dancing amidst clouds

Triggering landslides

---

Darkness is coming

Gathering strangers

Brewing up trouble

Hiding old dangers

---

Darkness is coming

Stealing the sun’s light

Passing out shadows

Dispensing its blight

---

Darkness is coming

Summoning your fate

Calling in orders

Deciding the date

---

Darkness is coming

Commanding all thoughts

Strangling desires

Disconnecting dots

---

Darkness is coming

Whispering fresh lies

Altering beliefs

Silencing allies

---

Darkness is coming

Freezing the scorched earth

Dulling sharp edges

Blurring priceless worth

---

Darkness is coming

Battling each protest

Canceling parades

Closing the hope chest

---

Darkness is coming

Harvesting power

Welcoming sadness

Making one cower

---

Darkness is coming

Insisting it’s crowned

Numbing all feeling

Wetting arid ground

---

Darkness is coming

Cementing the night

Embracing despair

Tightening its bite

---

Darkness is coming

---

When you have bipolar disorder, it’s not a matter of if your depression will return, but when it will arrive. Over the years, you learn to spot the signs, to see the darkness on the horizon.

This morning while driving to work, I noticed the purple of the mountains that only appears this time of year. It reminded me of what I’m feeling, knowing what the change of season always brings. Hope and despair will come together. New life and old nightmares.

Darkness is coming. I can feel it in my bones. I could still see it, even if my eyes failed me. I fear it and dread it, but I know I’ll survive it. This isn’t the first visit and won’t be the last. It doesn’t stay forever, and that truth keeps me fighting.

I hope you’ll keep fighting, too.

Until next time, keep fighting.

---

Video version of the poem:

Get my free 30 Days of Positivity email course, specifically written for those battling mental and/or chronic illness.