Love this. It feels so quiet, as if the way you have arranged the lines in short, disjointed groups feels like someone trying not to wake anyone up. The joy in these words sings right through; I've definitely had those mornings when you just wake up early feeling at peace with the morning.

konnichi wa

For a couple of months recently, I was very depressed for absolutely no reason. Chemical imbalance and whatnot, I assume, because my life was really going very well, which meant I really had no reason to be depressed other than that I was. :P Anyway, twenty-six days ago (and counting!), I suddenly got happy. Seriously, just like that. It was the first Wednesday that the sun came out, so it was just sunny and warm and lovely. This poem reminds me EXACTLY of that feeling - from the first to the last stanza.

"I wake with the birds" already starts off with an optimistic connotation because birds are "creatures of the sky" so to speak. Then, of course, you continue with exactly how I felt: "and I'm happy / for the first time / in a long time."

The repetition of the word "time" makes it sound a bit awkward. I would suggest "for the first time / in a long while" because you cannot really change the first "time."

"Well-worn" and "hear the breathing / of the people / I know best" gives this feeling of tranquility, I guess you could say. A well-worn house, one you have lived in your whole life, cannot help but give an air of comfort. To walk through this house that you have known forever, that you have "broken-in," so to speak, to make it into this well-worn thing, you hear the sounds of people sleeping. That is also comforting, calming. And the people you know best - all of these give an air of familiarity, which tends to conjure comfort, serenity, etc.

I absolutely adore the line "as I wash night from my skin." So lovely and beautifully poetic.

The rest of the third stanza seemed to lose the feeling of serenity, though, which set me off a bit. Words like "stifle" and "outcry" connote the opposite of peace - namely chaos or excitement or activity - so that threw me off there.

I am going to skip a bit just because I have schoolwork to finish, and I would like to get to my end thoughts as well. I guess I should pause for the "that isn't close enough to today / to make me feel it."

First of all, you had a typo or an extra word or something. But that is not why I mentioned it. I wanted to add that this again reminded me of how I felt. Once the depression left, that first day that I did not immediately wake up and feel unbelievably happy, I got really scared. I worried that I would revert back, which honestly terrified me. When I was living with it, I did not realize how much the perpetual sadness drained me, sucked me of my hope... until it went away. At that moment, I realized that I could not live with that again. Well, when I woke up without the immediate and obvious, almost chipper feeling, I worried that I was beginning to revert back.

The next stanza - "So I pop out thye lock, / turn the handle, / and there is daytime, / pouring over / my windowsill." was sort of the metaphor for that. I came to realize that it is not realistic for me to expect myself to be happy all the time... as much as, if I am SAD all the time, it is not normal and something I should get help for or fix somehow. The average person is at a middlepoint, and they have to DO something to make themselves tilt to either side of the spectrum. In the poem, you actively sought out The Feeling by opening the window... and it was not hiding from you. It was simply waiting for you to come get it, and when you did it willingly "pour[ed] over" the windowsill.

The last little bit was actually what made me write such a detailed review. I was going to write you just a little note, as I normally would... but then I read that last bit: "Today, I feel everything. / Such a nice change." Before that, I did not see the direct corrolationg between this poem and how I felt only a few short weeks ago.

See, I realized that the worst part was not the depression, the seeing everything and still feeling sad. It was the LACK of feeling, the numbness, that overtook me with more and more persistance. The depression was awful, but with more and more frequency, the complete lack of emotion began to overpower the depression... and that was so many times worse.

That day that I "saw the sun," literally and figuratively... I felt again. I felt everything. It made me feel... I had no other word to describe it aside from "warm." It made me feel warm. Loved, content, everything. Happy. :) Warm.

And it was "such a nice change."

Ending like that was brilliant. It was so simplistic... but it summed up everything perfectly. I feel like you are summing up my past few months. *laughs* True talent here. Kudos - and thank you for a lovely read.

Ha det
-Shan-

This is such a great piece. You are an exceptional writer.

I just recently posted part of a story I am writing and I would really appreciate it if you could read & review it. Any suggestions/honest feedback from a writer like you would be amazing!