Don't Go Over the Cliff

You couldn’t see the cliff

                                        until you were

                                                                   teetering over the

                                                                                                      edge.

First there was no help ‘til you fell.

They’d try to fix you down below,

drag you backwards over the cusp of unwell,

and back atop the cliff you go.

Then they added a net

to catch you halfway down.

“That’s better, I bet,”

at least you don’t hit the ground.

Yet people fell through the gaps,

so they added a fence

to prevent you from a relapse,

“Yeah, that makes sense”

But the fence has holes too;

the slats stop some not all,

and the threat is anew,

unlucky people still fall.

But what if we got you away from that ledge?

What if we guided you further back still?

And taught you to avoid it, we’d pledge

to value being well instead of not ill.