Yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Day and as such, I should have posted this yesterday. But for a variety of reasons it didn’t get posted and that’s okay – because this is a topic we should talk about every day, not just bring it to our attention once a year.

I would venture to say that many of us have been touched by suicide – a friend, a family member, maybe even yourself have thought about or attempted suicide. One of my very best friends struggled through years of severe depression and at one point attempted suicide. Thankfully she called for help in time and is still here. But it’s something that affects many of us and it still remains a taboo topic. That needs to change. People need to call for help and people need to listen for that call. I know I’m listening, I’m here. I’ll hold your hand and keep your head above water. I promise.

Sierra DeMulder and Tonya Ingram released a powerful poem yesterday in honor of World Suicide Prevent Day:

 

After watching that poem I sat thinking about my friend, the one who almost took her life. Then I wrote this poem.

Milky Way

The ghosts dance around you,

tangle their chains

in your hair and call to you softly,

seduce you with their tender caresses

and easy words.

 

Every morning you wake

and ring the bell, decide to give it

“one more day”,

swallow the pill that keeps the lub-lub

of your heart from racing like a wild horse,

swallow the pill that keeps the frantic

panic to a dull roar,

swallow the pill that keeps the suffocating

sadness to a quiet ache.

 

The ghosts are always there,

the shadow in your peripheral,

the darkness on even the brightest of days.

Every night I look up and thank

the Milky Way you keep fighting.