THE AXIOM OF HOPE

[DinkyDi]

With an oafish glare I loiter
Past the precipice of hope,
With hopes to reconnoiter
My will upon the slope;
My will to rise aloft
For a form of self-appraisal,
To ward depression off
‘Fore I flail in self-betrayal,
And lose my own sanguinity
I once held so esteemed,
Driving the power in to me
To feel I’ve been redeemed.

The guild of heartened merit
Doth meet within my soul,
Belief, means I inherit
Complete and full control,
Of every single facet
Inside my wanton heart,
Side-stepping every hazard
So belief in me can start.
16/08/2011

© Copyright 2011 Adam Parker

[Heather]

Wow Adam, I'm impressed. Great stuff.

Heather

[DinkyDi]

Thanks Heather and Matt.

Just got to thinking about depression and how the few times I experienced it I've always found the belief in myself to overcome it.
Maybe not everyone is so lucky.

[Heather]

If only it was that easy Adam. I met a lady recently at a workshop who suffers from bi-polar but she only gets the depression. She is one amazing woman. She struggles on a daily basis to maintain her own life, has had to make decisions that she would rather not have (like only having one child because of her medication) but she is out in her bushfire community doing things for others. I found her truly inspirational.

I don't know much about it but there is feeling "depressed" and there is clinical depression. Feeling depressed can be helped by things that change the mood. I have a friend who was feeling down after rebuilding after the Black Saturday bushfires. The house was built and is lovely (but not home yet) but there was so much to do outside - fences, grass, sheds, gardens, drives to do and he was simply overwhelmed by it all. I organised a working bee and the men built him a wood shed in a day and then some other volunteers built his fences. Suddenly the world wasn't so bad and he was on top of things again.

Clinical depression is quite different.

I really think your poem is great Adam

Heather

[DinkyDi]

Thanks all,

I'm fully aware depression is a serious and debilitating affliction. Which is why I said not everyone is so lucky. I'm simply happy that each time I've started to slide the slope I found the strength to get back up again. So many aren't so lucky.

[Bob Pacey]

Half the battle is getting it out there Adam.

Almost like saying I'm an Drug Addict !!!

Gotta recognise the problem before you can fix it.

Well said Cheers Bob

[Neville Briggs]

Lots of applause for that Adam. It looks and sounds great to me.

I must admit that at first I thought you should have avoided the archaism ' doth' but I read it over several times and I came to believe that in the context ....it works, so I withdraw the reservation about 'doth'

I think what's made this piece work so well is that it apparently comes from first hand experience. I think there is no reason why we can't write about anything, whether real or imagined, but personal experience is bound to be a winner.

Have you ever read Henry Lawson's The Men We Might Have Been. One of his best and about his own battle ? I recommend that you check it out.

[DinkyDi]

Dead set, right on Bob!

I have come from the scene you mentioned mate. I'm one of the lucky ones, actually I like to call myself "A VICTORY" 'fore mate where I was there was only one of two places I would end up, dead or in jail. And I think that's where the belief in myself came from pal.
Digging deep is something I'm no stranger to but something I'm damn proud of. Over 10 years clean now!

This came from a few other things I've seen and gone through but we won't get into them right now.

Nev, mate it was only at the last minute I decided to change, to "Doth"; something about the meter pestered me and that word change seemed to alleviate that pest.
Personal experience can be nothing but a winner can it? It makes you who you are today.

Na mate haven't read it but will look right now buddy. Will have to bookmark it though pretty drunk right now.

Thanks everyone, obviously a topic many can relate with.