Billy Tuggle's Backpack Files

Found in my feed in the wee small hours. Thank you, Andrea Gibson, for reaching down to pick the crowd up.

“Sleep through the alarm / of the world.”

— 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.


This poem appeared in You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson, published by Button Poetry, 2021. Shared here with deep gratitude.