What I’m Telling Myself These Days

I’m better.

I really am.

I can get the kids ready for school,

eat my breakfast,

spend the day sending torrents of code

sputtering into cyberspace

where they flutter around

until they become dollar bills

and lines of credit.

Fueled by coffee

and antidepressants

I can actually pretend

I’m a human and not a ghost.

I can be grateful for the connections I have,

grieve the ones I’ve lost,

and write away the loneliness

with fantasy and poetry,

stage an escape from the prison of my mind

into the dreams of imagination.