The Short Course in Beating Depression, or So I Hear

In a corner booth at a party
a guy who’s a friend of a friend
tells me:

“One night some years ago
I made calls
to two different crisis hotlines.

The first call,
I shit you not I was on hold
for ten minutes.

The second call, I asked the counselor
for a place I could go
for emergency meds. He told me the story

of how Michael Jordan and the Bulls
had to be beaten by the Pistons
before finding the drive they needed

to become champions,
and what I needed was to see
that this was my time to find

my inner drive.
I thanked him when I hung up on him
because

there was no way
I was going to end my life
with either a bad punchline

or a sports metaphor
as the last thing I ever heard,
and I’ve made it my business since

never to stick around
longer than is polite
when the phone plays me sad music

or someone who claims they care
proves they’ve got nothing
but game to share.”