Detrimental Emotions
by Maritsa Gonzalez from Madison High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong
Anger is the bright blinding sun in the dry summer, scorching a person’s loathing back. It is the red rubber ball hurled by a rival, which we passively dodge. Anger is destructive, it can make us turn our backs on ourselves, but most importantly, it can make us hurt those we love. Anger is lightning out the window that we don’t want to touch. It spreads like a plague through our bodies and infects others as easily as words. Anger is a lonely state of mind. It can stay with you for the rest of your life.
Depression is a vacant nest in the tallest tree in the woods. It is a toddler boy, lost and weeping. It is the color brown, the loner color that no one wears. Depression is the single star that appears just as the sun turns its back on us to give way to the dreary moon. Depression is a hypnotizing abyss that we easily fall into, but chances are we never come back. When laughter sounds unfamiliar and hugs feel like empty grasps that welcome you with fake smiles, depression has swallowed you like death, into his stomach of emptiness. Depression comes when your light fades away. Depression is an illness, which not only affects you, but affects other people around you until you’re out of sight, out of mind, and out of life.
When I feel a surge of detrimental emotions, I am a lost bird, or a kid about to drown in the icy ocean without mercy, without the warmth of a smile carried in my memory. Too many people around us are blind to how we are linked, one person to another by a sticky tape called misanthropy. Some people are lucky to notice the flaw trapping us and infecting our minds until death blows its threatening breath at us to end the misery. When we yell at the waitress who accidentally brings the wrong order, she will go home and yell. People need to break the chain. Will you?
