day 22 - draggg

 this practice poem was actually from a few days ago, when the depressive funk i've been in was, i suppose, peaking. it's waned a bit such that i could come back to the poem and review/revise it before posting; 2 days ago, i could barely find the motivation to write it...

 the prompt was to basically have a conversation with yourself or to have a character converse with themself etc... it was remarkably fitting for where i was at: amid a rude and debilitating depressive funk, talking to myself about the fears of broadly never moving forward in life... yeah, heavy stuff, i guess 😅

 meanwhile (and i know i keep saying this), i've been doing ok with not letting having to meet the writing challenge—or failing to, i suppose—get to me. like it sucks that i'm as "behind" as i am, but i'm trying to remind msyelf that a) the pressure is only from within—it's mine to meet or not, b) this experience is meant to be fun, not stressful, and c) i can always catch up later if i want. there's also always next year, if, in a fave quote from grey gardens, we're all still living...

 anyway, enjoy the poem! 

day 22 - draggg 

by tophie palmer
#napowrimo2026, apr 22 

old friend, you seem tired, you seem restless
and unwell
oh, you know, i’m just stuck again,
a stagnant way, uncertain and aimless;
there’s a fear in me, you see,
that everything hangs, it all just floats,
there is no traction to be had;
that nothing will get done...
——everything will just drag from day to day,
from one day into another,
week after week that each incomplete, unfinished, blurred...
how dreadful, friend!
how long have you been stuck like this?
oh, years i suppose
it’s hard to keep track
without goals and goalposts,
without purpose and drive;
a funk without end,
movement without hope
——endless, endless, endless,
a life that does not proceed, progress, provoke...
how pessimistic!
have you considered asking for help, 
friend?
have you considered that?
well, that
would require telling someone
other than myself.
 
 

image by Sunrise from Pixabay 

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