So, my mental illnesses and I are talking
\nin my head,
\nand it looks like one of those therapy-based support groups.
\nI\u2019m sitting in the middle since it\u2019s my turn to go.
\nThey all have their outfits.
\nAutism wears the third new outfit that day,
\nbright and mismatched but so very me,
\nrocking slightly in their chair, hands fidgeting with the hem.
\nADHD is pacing, barefoot,
\ntheir oversized sweater hanging off one shoulder,
\nan iced espresso cup in one hand,
\na notebook in the other,
\nfilled with half-finished ideas they\u2019ll never revisit.
\nDyscalculia is sitting cross-legged on the floor,
\nsurrounded by a scatter of receipts and numbers
\nthey can\u2019t quite make sense of,
\ntheir face scrunched in frustration as they doodle
\nto forget how lost they feel.
\nC-PTSD sits stiffly in the corner,
\nwearing what I wore on the worst day of my life,
\ntheir eyes darting like they\u2019re waiting for the floor to crack open
\nand swallow us whole.
\nEating Disorder lounges on the edge of the group,
\nclutching an empty plate like a trophy,
\ntheir oversized hoodie swallowing them,
\na smirk on their face that hides the ache underneath.
\nSertraline is there, too,
\nsitting quietly off to the side,
\nwearing scrubs like a patient nurse,
\npassing me a glass of water and a small yellow pill.
\nThey don\u2019t say much,
\nbut their presence feels steady, grounding,
\na whisper that says, \u201cKeep going.\u201d
\nADHD blurts out, \u201cWe\u2019ve got so much to do!\u201d
\nTheir words overlap with Autism\u2019s,
\nwho mutters, \u201cCan we just do one thing at a time? Please?\u201d
\nDyscalculia groans, \u201cDo we have to do anything involving numbers?
\nI\u2019ll mess it up again\u2014I always do.\u201d
\nC-PTSD doesn\u2019t speak, but the weight of their silence is deafening,
\na constant reminder of the shadows we carry.
\n5
\nEating Disorder pipes up, their voice sharp and sly,
\n\u201cWe should skip dinner tonight. You don\u2019t really need it, do you?\u201d
\nTheir words cut, but Sertraline catches my gaze,
\nsteady as ever, reminding me to breathe.
\nAnd me?
\nI sit in the middle,
\nthe only one without an outfit,
\nholding all their voices like tangled threads.
\n\u201cMaybe,\u201d I say, though my voice shakes,
\n\u201cmaybe we don\u2019t have to figure it all out today.
\nMaybe the fact that we\u2019re here,
\ntalking, breathing, existing,
\nis enough.\u201d
\nThe room doesn\u2019t fall silent\u2014
\nit never does\u2014
\nbut for a moment, it feels lighter.
\nAnd I think,
\nmaybe I\u2019ll make it through another day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, my mental illnesses and I are talking in my head, and it looks like one of those therapy-based support groups. I\u2019m sitting in the middle since it\u2019s my turn to go. They all have their outfits. Autism wears the third new outfit that day, bright and mismatched but so very me, rocking slightly in … Continue reading A Conversation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"issue":[6876],"class_list":["post-2070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","issue-6876"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 11:32:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=2070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}