Rainy Day Friends

after all was said and done, 

your resolve was simple

and the girl's was strong.

you couldnt put a pricemark on that depth

where you only got your ankles wet.

her storm had finished its damage, the skies were clear again

with full grace she righted herself and stood again.

with curiosity she searched for you,

but you had run away with the rain.

yes you ran away from the rain.

I wrote this 3 years ago. I forgot about it. This poem is about my struggle with brain abnormalities. I don't like the term mental illness, even if that is what it is medically called. Anyways, I wrote this in regards to a manic episode I had in November of 2012. It was my single most severe manic episode I have ever had. The poem references people, "friends," who left my side because they didn't understand, or they didn't want to understand. It doesn't matter anymore, there is forgiveness in my heart for them.

I am sharing it to bring awareness to "mental illness." It's real and prevalent. There are many who go undiagnosed every year and throughout their lifetime for fear of the stigma of "mental illness." End the stigma. Don't abandon someone because they are "ill." Would you abandon your loved ones if they had been diagnosed with diabetes or arthritis or some other chronic illness? Mental instabilities are chronic illnesses just as much as those other afflictions I mentioned. When bipolar depression (my diagnosis) flares up, the last thing I need is for people to run away from me.

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (New Living Translation)

And as Jesus says in John 15:12-15: "This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay one's life down for one's friends." (New Living Translation)