Dear Depression

 
You probably don’t get much
in the way of gratitude or compliments.
So, I just want to say thanks.
(Not for the way you’ve lurked in the background
for much of my life – that actually sucks.)
But thanks for choosing when you did to really rage.

Of course, five years ago, it seemed like horrible timing,
with cancer and dementia and chronic disease
haunting my family all around me…
but at least I was expected to need support then.
And I had the best of friends around to provide it.
So, I got the help I needed.
I learned about you
and me
and how we could live together,
and that’s why I’m grateful.

I’m grateful because, even though I’m pandemic-weary,
I’m not at the end of my rope
like so many people are now.
A year ago, I knew that you would come knocking
and that I’d need all the lessons and tricks you had taught me
in order to keep from checking out.
I armed up for the fight.

So even though I know you’re out there,
and sometimes you’ll come for a visit,
I now know how to tolerate you,
give you a cup of tea and send you on your way,
before you wreck the place.

Thanks for teaching me when you did.
This could have been so much worse.