Instead of Depression by Andrea Gibson

Instead of Depression
by Andrea Gibson

try calling it hibernation.
Imagine the darkness is a cave
in which you will be nurtured
by doing absolutely nothing.
Hibernating animals don’t even dream.
It’s okay if you can’t imagine
Spring. Sleep through the alarm
of the world. Name your hopelessness
a quiet hollow, a place you go
to heal, a den you dug,
Sweetheart, instead
of a grave.

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As someone with a long history of depression, which I frankly think is a sane response to an insane world, this piece really spoke to me. “It’s okay if you can’t imagine Spring”. Depression robs you of perspective when you most need to see it.

Andrea Gibson (1975-2025) was an American poet, performer, and activist, Colorado's Poet Laureate from 2023 until their death on July 14, 2025. They were one of the most beloved voices in contemporary slam and spoken-word poetry, openly genderqueer, and one of the central public figures of the contemporary mental-health-and-queer-identity literary movement.