Bring Me Back

by Kristen Granata

“You’re not supposed to focus on the past, remember? Look forward. Never back, always forward.”

Keeping busy is important when you have depression.

Music has a way of making me feel as if I’m not alone in my pain because there’s someone out there who feels as much as I do. The lyrics articulate the things I can’t bring myself to admit to anyone, sometimes not even myself, and for those few minutes, it heals my broken soul.

You don’t fight for the shit you couldn’t care less about. You only fight for the people you love, and the things that matter.

Phoenix lifts her hand to my face, grazing her fingertips against my jaw. “You save everyone, but who saves you?” I swallow around the ball of emotion in my throat. “Maybe I don’t need saving.” “We all need saving every once in a while.”

“Who needs family when you have dogs, am I right?”

I want to see all of you. I want the broken, jagged pieces, the ones you think are ugly and ruined, the ones you hide from everyone else—especially those. I want to be the one you can trust your heart with.”

I’ve got my own damn six.

“Bring me back, James.”