Lift

I wrote this poem during my senior year of high school. It based on the book The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and Ben's experience with depression. The lines in quotes are either directly taken from the book, or the words of Ben, answering interview questions that I asked him.



Gaping with menace
The malignant abyss of depression
Trapped him at a
“Live or die crossroads”.

He slid down the rickety sides
Of a barren gorge.
His countenance carried
A “dead, black, vacant expression”.


Crawling gracelessly to the edge,
Contemplation weighing on Conscience.
Witnessing the duel
Between the guilt of his wake
And the burden of his anguish.
Decisive.

Gazing with somber eyes
And pensive mind
Grieving in the climate of his
Thoughts:
“So crazy are the storms,
Tormenting, sad…wild.”

Sliding to the brim
Of the sloshing waters,
His heart droned
An unfamiliar rhythm
“I am, I am, I am”.

Slowly, light pierced
His dusk.
A beam of elevation
Lifting the weighty “bell jar”-
Freedom from madness.
His content now
Illuminated.