For Years He Has Been Battling Poem by Francis Duggan

For years he has been battling his dark moods of despair
But you never hear him say that life to him is unfair
And though his physical best years in life may be gone
The will it is in him for to keep on keeping on
On his forty sixth year at least a decade past his physical prime
Like many on medication he has put on weight through the Seasons of time
The woman he loved would not become his wife
She did not wish to be committed to a man with a mental illness for the rest of her life
But time is the great healer and now he does say
It was for the better she left me and all with me now is okay
His mood swings from euphoric to dejection and woe
He was diagnosed with manic depression two decades ago
And though medication keeps his mood swings under control
His mental illness on his health has taken it's toll.