Before I ever took the pills
I took so much. So much was taken. I’m
done. I’m here. A fish thrown back
to the river can’t help but swallow fistfuls
of self.

Shira Erlichman, from “Ode to Lithium #-18: Postscript to Mania,” published in Apogee (via lifeinpoetry)

mickoymilkovich:

OEDIPUS REX, written by Sophocles (427 B.C.E.)

I beg of you in God’s name hide me
somewhere outside your country, yes, or kill me,
or throw me into the sea, to be forever
out of your sight. Approach and deign to touch me
for all my wretchedness, and do not fear.
No man but I can bear my evil doom.