Excuse My Mania

BEFORE DAWN

It’s dark out still

But for me it’s the birth of a newday

Between the highs…

Between the lows…

I will try to fall somewhere between the lines

On a good day my goal is met,

Between the lines I fall.

On a bad day I fall from the highs;

Just as quickly as the flicking of a switch.

To whom this may concern:

Please excuse Jessica from class today, for she is swinging from the highs and lows as if they were trees, and if you catch her in between, please tell her how things have been.

In high school if I was absent from a class it was necessary to have a note signed by a parent stating why you were absent. Usually, my parents were unaware of the fact that I had even missed class, so it was actually me writing the readmits. Whether I had crashed due to exhaustion from not sleeping the previous 3 nights, or if I was manic-ly moving at the speed of light through my hectic high school schedule, the writing of readmits was a regular weekly event. Not aware of the underlying reason for my truancy at that time this habit continued into college and was so cyclic that it could easily be predicted. If only life were as simple as having my mother write a readmit for the day to excuse my mania.