The Cage

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Depression is a strange state of emotion.
It’s all consuming, controlling, devastating.
It hides under sheets and in between floor board cracks.
In places so bright no one would guess to look.
You can’t stare it straight on, like looking at the sun.
It’s just too intense.

Depression plays two roles; the prison and the keeper.
A prison made up of freezing stone.
A keeper dangling you on strings of hope.
You can sit in there and cry and starve and beg, but it won't
matter. The puppeteer still tugs on your marionette strings and
gives you just enough life to pass the test.

And your trapped there until something miraculous happens.
You starve enough, die enough to slip through the bars of your cage,
and you're free. You relish in this weightlessness, marvel at your
escape until the weight comes back, and oh baby you can bet it will.

Pounds and pounds of emotional stress and tragedy and catastrophe
that line your veins and collect in disgusting colonies within your heart.
And you start to think, well the cage wasn’t that bad. . .

Wasn’t too cold. . .

Until you're right back where you started, with strings
tied to your limbs and needles sewn through your heart.
Except the status had changed, the cage has shrunk and
you didn’t know until it was too late. But yet again you prevail,
feel the ecstasy of tasting your newly granted life. You jump
with enough energy to convince them that nothing is, or ever was, wrong.

But you know the next part you silly goose! Oh yes, those walls
you made out of Play Dough and hope? Well they can’t stand the
hurricane and you flee to your storm cellar. You forget that the
last time you were here these cold stone walls tricked you.
Conned you into entering this optical illusion.

Of course you don’t remember, you never have. All too quickly
you discover that, oh lordy, the cage has shrunk again! But you don’t get it.
You. Just. Don’t.
And this sickening cycle just keeps replicating over and over.
Lather, rinse and repeat.

Until the cage gets so small, and you're so tightly packed,
that a contortionist would be jealous. This time there is no
amount of weight that can be lost. No friend to be gained. No
antidote to swallow that can save you from eating yourself alive.

The bones crunch and the skin shrivels until everything dissolves
into dust. Dust the wind blows away carelessly, not considerate of
which boy or girl it has just washed from existence. It’s just doing its job,
clearing out the cage for the next occupant, and you can bet your
life that there will be one.

There always is.
These lies are leading me astray, it's too much for me to stay. I don't wanna live this destiny, it goes on endlessly. I see you so please stay strong, I'll sing you one last song and then I'm gone. I don't wanna live this destiny, it goes on endlessly.

This love this Hate- Hollywood Undead




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OH. MY. GOODNESS.

I love this! The beauty of poetry lies in its inherent nature, its ability to spark varying emotions and thoughts into different individuals. Guess what I got from this piece.
A lost soul, perhaps a teenage guy or girl who has deviated from his/her safe, loving lifestyle to explore and experience the dark aspects of humanity (drugs,crime,witchcraft). He/she was lured into this trap by an obscure, yet potent force with an overwhelming ability to feast off one's conscience (peer pressure, media). Yet although the spirit of this teen almost dissolves after the wickedness manifests itself in his/conscience, he/she still has a chance to escape. How? His/her heart is not yet accustomed to this new entity. In fact, the heart is somewhat immune for its root are of the good-natured behavior the teen was brought up in. Therefore, for a moment, friends, family, etc. are able to release their loved one from this "prison" and overcome the plausible, yet devilish "keeper" that desires to hold one hostage for eternity. Eventually, despite all struggles and attempts (therapy?), the teen is once more encaged. This time for good. The heart has failed for the conscience is weak.What reason is there left to exist?

Dust the wind blows away carelessly, not considerate of which boy or girl it has just washed from existence..........
This is suicide, the end of the road.

Was that observant or what? :smt002




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Hi June! I don’t think we’ve ever officially met. I’m Lily! Hi. *waves like an idiot*

Okay, I really have to give you props on this poem for one very important reason. You took a refreshing outlook on a rather commonly used subject. I mean, I’ve read plenty of poems about depression, but most of them touch on them and write about them as emotions and basic metaphors. But you have a well constructed extended metaphoric poem here which is really cool.

There was just one line that I wasn’t so fond of:

But you know the next part you silly goose!

This line really distracts from the tone of the poem which is overall solemn and calm. This just feels very out of place.

Overall though, this is definitely a great poem. Great job, June!

~lilymoore
Never forget who you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.




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Aww that's like my favorite line! Haha but I totally get your point. . . It does change the tone. . . Oh well though. And no we haven't officially met (even though I've seen your work and reviews) so hey! And most people call me Violet but hell you could call me Marie Antoinette and I wouldn't care :) oh and I've always loved your location! I know that sounds weird but every time I see it I'm just like why didn't I think of that? Lol
These lies are leading me astray, it's too much for me to stay. I don't wanna live this destiny, it goes on endlessly. I see you so please stay strong, I'll sing you one last song and then I'm gone. I don't wanna live this destiny, it goes on endlessly.

This love this Hate- Hollywood Undead



Of those who say nothing, few are silent.
— Thomas Neill