Protestations

They say depression is repressed anger

but it makes as much sense to say

that anger is repressed sadness,

since anger is so much easier,

making it someone else's fault

and not my own.

A weird kind of power

comes from this,

an energy to move against

the forces of gravity,
the forces that win in the end

because, like soldiers

they take their marching orders

from somebody else.

So I keep pushing

for as long as I can

to maintain an upright position-

to lie down

means that I'm willing

to give up early,

and I'm not willing

to give up at all.

Meanwhile, the footsteps

going up and down the stairs remind me

that in spite of all

of my useless protestations,

I will soon be moving,

moving as I have always done.