Depression

“Depression” is a poem about a woman at her breaking point. Section 1 describes a woman whose mental health condition has left her feeling isolated and withdrawn from the world. The first line, “I have gone into my eyes” (Line 1), tells the reader that the speaker has already withdrawn from her daily life. Her use of past-perfect tense tells the reader that the poem begins where her ability to keep functioning as she did before ends. Instead of going on as she had before, she spends her time “under the sun” (Line 3) consumed by images of bones, rivers, and incense.

She watches “a piece of light” (Line 6), a little beacon of hope, bump around inside her head with her until it turns a corner, away from her. This image shows her struggle to hold onto even a small morsel of hope. Physically, the speaker has “settled” (Line 11) into an uncomfortable space. She paints a picture of a sickly room: air that molts, “blankets that cover sweat” (Line 9). The bedsheets “continuing dreams” (Line 10) represent the blurry line between restless sleep and depressed waking. The speaker takes off her clothes, furthering her commitment to stay inside and in bed.