It ambushes my mind,
Familiar and unassuming,
Blocking everything else out.
It’s an eclipse ruminating
Behind glassy eyes.
It promises me it’ll be
Different this time,
A truce.
And I should know better
Than to trust the lies
Of the emptiness;
But I give in anyway.
The world turns cold and bitter,
Like the last dregs in a coffee cup,
Holding my voice hostage.
I try to drown my thoughts
In the shadows until
I am consumed in my own void.
Sometimes I feel as though
My better days are numbered
And I’m just waiting here-
Watching a losing battle.
Anna Jackson
Anna Jackson is a York based poet, flash fiction and game writer who recently graduated with a degree in Creative Writing from York St John University. Her writing is often inspired by mental health, feminism and her own life experiences.This poem was inspired by the way that depressive episodes can sneak up on you, kind of like being ambushed by your own mind.