The Weight of Dark Clouds

Many of us suffer from depression, and, certainly, all of us know someone close who has been affected by depression.  Be aware.  Be sensitive.  You/We are not alone in the darkness, under

The Weight of Dark Clouds

Frenetic activity
alternates
with a sodden, heavy quietude
in which all thoughts
have a uniform bleakness,
bleeding into the vortex,
under the weight of dark clouds.

Struggling to breathe,
to burst through
the black surface, the iron cover,
that hides the sun,
that keeps you captive,
and struggling
under the weight of dark clouds.

Remembering moments,
glimpses of light,
echoes of joy, memories
of love:
phantoms in the fog
enveloping all,
under the weight of dark clouds.

A light shines
down the halls of self,
a fleeting warmth
that sparks a flame
of strength, of determination:
a key that can free us 
from the weight of dark clouds.