Deep Breathing

Sometimes it gets so hard to feel normal,

Sometimes the tide rolls in and I drown

Sometimes it feels like the earth opens up before me

Swallows me whole, scrambled footsteps, no control.
 

Its at these times when darkness takes me,

Its at these times I feel an unseen pull,

Holding me back, making me gasp for breath,

A feeling of force, that stops me, abnormality now the rule,

Its so hard to explain, it's difficult to name,

Its so disabling, its debilitating, its cruel,

Nothing I can do can stop it, it moves me as it wants,

My breathing is stilted, laboured, it comes in gasps and pants,

Breathe deeply, that's what they say, inhale completely,

I do, and as the oxygen fills my lungs, it lifts me,

Bringing my mind and thoughts back down to earth,

Another crisis averted, allowing me to get grounded,

How long it lasts, well, we will see.