The room I’m in the most

My mind is like a mansion
With way too many rooms

Some days I enter the dark room
The one where my only source of light
Is a tender candle
A candle that at any given point
Can go out
Nothing but shadows for company
And the ghostly whispers
Of traumas long past
In the black hole void
That is my dark room

Would you like a tour
Of my mind palace?

Some days I get stuck in the haunted room
The one where every mistake I’ve ever made
Is projected onto a screen
The size of a footballfield
And replayed over and over and over
And I can’t leave the room
Until I can identify every mistake
And try to change the past
By doing something drastic in the present

Do you like the furniture
In my prefrontal cortex?

Some days I get pushed into the boxing room
The one that’s just one big boxing ring
And every look, word or touch
Can be the starting bell
For a violent outburst of anger
That I have no control over
And yet I never fight anyone else in there
It’s just me, myself and I
With no gloves, no judge, no victory
Until I K.O myself into oblivious sleep.

Please don’t trigger the amygdala alarm
I don’t know how to shut it off yet.

Some days I refuse to leave the playroom
The one where everything is purple and plushy and nice
Where my inner child can laugh and smile
With no fear of judgement or rejection
And everything is possible
And magic exists
And unicorns are the best thing ever
And I wanna be a princess
Or a horse trainer
Or possibly an astronaut
If the first two don’t work out

Would you like to have coffee
In my garden of painted roses?

Most days tho, I’m just hanging in limbo
A room that is neither here nor there
Where I can open a courtian if it gets dark
And see my partner smiling in through the window
A room where I can make a mistake
And not have a 3 hour struggle to correct it
A room where I can hear the fighting bell
And choose to use words instead of fists
A room where I know what my age is
And I can be the logical adult
(Can I still be an astronaut?)

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet

Ode til 2020

2020 fristet oss med
At flappere og jazz
Kunne bringe tilbake
The roaring 20’s.

2020 ga oss løfter
Om at ting skulle endres
At Trump ville tape
Hans følgere ville tie
Og vi, vi skulle feire.

2020 kom med hylekor
Miljøforskere poengterte
Hva var det vi sa
Mens delfinene lekte
I kanalene i Venezia.

2020 kom med smittevisir
Maskerte spøkelser vandrer
Covid danser blant dem
Jazz-trompeten er stillnet
Og flapperen lagt i antibac.

2020 ble året da
Vi hamstret toalettpapir
Vi protesterte mot regjeringer
Vi isolerte og dekontaminerte
Vi falt fra hverandre
Både psykisk og fysisk.

2020 ble flere brøl
Et nødskrik
Et halvkvalt klynk
Et hjertesukk
Så dypt og sårt
At det fortsatt runger
Inn i 2021.

Not perfect

My boyfriend is not perfect
He grinds his teeth
While he sleeps
Sometimes so loudly
I can hear it even
With my headphones on
He pushes my buttons
When he’s having a
Bad day so that
He won’t be the only
One who’s miserable
He has some habbits
That seriously messes
With every OCD bone
In my very OCD body
And OCD one more time
For good meassure.

My boyfriend is not perfect
He can read my face
Even when my mask
Is made of pure stone
He can make me laugh
Even when the depression monster
Has stolen my voice
He can make me smile
Even when my jaw
Is clenched in anger
He can anchor me
Even when my body
Wants to float away
He can make me feel
Even when every part
Of me wants to shut down

My boyfriend is not perfect
But honestly who cares
I’d rather have him
With all his flaws
Then be alone again
I knew before we met
He was a weird guy
But truth be told
I’m just as weird
And flawed as him
He brings out the best
And the worst in me
And I guess I
Do the same for him
I don’t think we would work
Any other way
My boyfriend is not perfect
But then again
Neither am I

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet

An image of depression

Can you imagen
Living in a state
Of constant darkness?
The sort of darkness
That consumes everything
The sort of darkness
That swallows you whole
And refuses to let go.

It holds you close
And whispers dark silk
Into every corner of
Your fragile mind
While you lay in bed
Praying for a sunrise
Wishing for a flashlight
Hoping for lightning to strike
But it never does.

Can you imagen
Living in a well of
Your own salty tears?
The sort of well
That has no bottom
The sort of well
That is always filling up
Over your head.

The salty water chokes you
And forces you to feel
The sadness of the world
In your heart every day
While you lay in bed
Hoping to hit the bottom
Wishing for a floating device
Praying for a drought
But it never comes.

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet

Reasons

I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours
I don’t know why so don’t bother asking
I just want to list a few things right now
That may or may not be the reasons why

When I was thinking of going to bed
My heart started racing and I felt sick
Maybe that’s my body’s internal alarm
Telling me to avoid the nightmares

Maybe it’s my brain telling me
That all my thoughts are about death
Or maybe I feel uncomfortable sleeping
Next to someone every single night

When I was trying to go to sleep
My brain went into fight or flight
Is it fighting to stay awake?
Or fleeing from the hope of a good night?

When I say a good night
I mean an empty dark sleep
When I say fleeing
I mean I’m not ready for another defeat

Defeat is a scary thing
But I don’t know what’s worse
Hoping or fleeing
Because both make me sad

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles poet

Inside my head

I sometimes wonder
If my brain really is
Like a computer
On the inside I mean

Does it send and recieve
Impulses and signals
The same way
A digital circuit does

And if it does
Is there a difference
Between the circuits
In the left and right brain

They say human brain
Tastes like chicken
I wonder how they
Came to that conclusion

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet

Action scene

I see fights
And bloody tears
I see darkness
Everlasting and deep
I see my own mind
Telling me to die
I see a world
Of ignorance and hate

I see a full bus
When I’m late
I see people lying
Through a perfect smile
I see dark clouds
Chasing the light
I see a storm
Before looking out the window

Every morning is
Like an action scene
Before I even open
My ever so tired eyes
I start thinking
And visualizing
Every possible outcome
This day can bring

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet

Childhood hero

Do you remember
Your childhood
Do you smile
When you think
About those long
Carefree days

I don’t
There’s nothing
Back then that
Makes me smile
There’s no reason
Too look back
With anything other
Than tears and anger

Except for him
The wise old man
The grandfather
The friend
The teacher
The hero

He who showed me
What love is
He who gave me
Every piece of wisdom
He who taught me
The meaning of life
He who never
Rejected or neglected me

Others may have
Thrown rocks
And ugly words
Others may have
Broken my heart
And left me for dead

But never him
The hero
The friend
The grandfather.

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet

My bestie

I have this friend
This weird person
This creature that
For some reason
I can’t live without

He lights every fire
Pushes every button
Drives me to the
Brink of insanity
And back again

He makes me
Pull my hair out
Cry my eyes out
Want to smash
His head in

But he also
Makes me smile
Gives me love
Makes me laugh
And brings me to life

He brings out the
Best and worst in me
Gives me a reason
To keep fighting
Keep breathing

Every day
I love him
Every day
I need him
Every day

He is there
And I know that
No matter what
He will always be
My bestie

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet

Self-portrait

Every day I try to see
My face in the mirror
Like Dorian Gray
My portrait shows
The truth behind
This husk of mine
The broken soul
Inside my mind
Who never can
Be free of all
The anger and
The burning pain
That the past
Has left behind

Every day I try to hide
From that face in the mirror
The deep and unforgiving
Eyes that never rests
Never lets me forget
The trauma and the
Anguish my body and
My mind has been through
The face is just
Like most faces
With one big exception
The strength you see
When you look at me
Is just a mask I made
From years of tears
Masking pain and fears

Every day I try to show
Flashes of the truth
Piece by piece
Uncovering the me
That people rarely
Get to see
In hopes that I can
Finally just be

Copyright © The CheeseDoodles Poet