Sabrina Benaim - Explaining My Depression to My Mother transcript

explaining my depression to my mother a conversation mom my depression is a shape shifter one day it is as small as a firefly in the palm of a bear the next it's the bear on those days I play dead until the bear leaves me alone I call the bad days the dark days Mom says try lighting candles when I see a candle I I see the Flesh of a church the flicker of a flame Sparks of a memory younger than noon I am standing beside her open casket it is the moment I learn every person I ever come to know will someday die besides Mom I'm Not Afraid of the Dark perhaps that's part of the problem mom says I thought the problem was that you can't get out of bed I can't anxiety holds me a hostage inside of my house inside of my head mom says where did anxiety come from and anxiety is the cousin visiting from out of town depression felt obligated to bring to the party mom I am the party only I am a party I don't want to be at Mom says why don't you try going to actual parties see your friends sure I make plans I make plans but I don't want to go I make plans because I know I should want to go I know sometimes I would have wanted to go it's just not that much fun having fun when you don't want to have fun mom you see Mom each night insomnia sweeps me up in his arms dips me in the kitchen in the small glow of the stove light insomnia has this romantic way of making the moon feel like perfect company mom says try counting sheep but my mind can only count reasons to stay awake so I go for walks but my stuttering kneecaps Clank like Silver Spoons held in strong arms with loose wrists they ring in my ears like clumsy church bells reminding me I am sleeping walking on an ocean of happiness I cannot baptize myself in mom says happy is a decision but my happy is as Hollow as a pin pricked egg my happy is a high fever that will break mom says I am so good and making something out of nothing and then flat out asks me if I am afraid of dying no I am afraid of living mom I am lonely I think I learned the how when dad left how to turn the anger into lonely the lonely into busy so when I tell you I've been super busy lately I mean I've been falling asleep watching sports center on the couch to avoid confronting the empty side of my bed but my depression always drags me back to my bed until my bones are the Forgotten fossils of a skeleton sunken city my mouth a Boneyard of teeth broken from biting down on themselves the hollow Auditorium of my chest swounds with Echoes of a heartbeat but I am a careless tourist here I will never truly know everywhere I have been mom still doesn't understand Mom can't you see then neither can I [Music] [Applause]