Acknowledge the pain
Identify the struggle
Let them see your fight.
managing
The moment after I tell someone
‘I’ve been managing really well lately’
my brain flips that hidden switch
and I fall backwards
wondering
just how well I was managing, at all.
The fight rages on.
Fighting against a force within me,
I cannot see it
nor assign it a name.
It urges me to retreat, recluse,
hide away from you, and me,
promising me peace and tranquility.
I feel another figure
rise up to the challenge,
rationalizing with me against every promise.
‘You know better than this’,
‘You are stronger than this’,
‘You must overcome this on your own’.
I listen to the rational voice
and head its advice,
but the other, deeper voice still calls out to me.
The fight rages on.
it will come, and stay
You know this feeling,
this feeling right here,
of peace and stillness and calm?
It does not need to be fleeting.
It can be here, with you,
every day.
If you make room for it,
it will come,
and stay.
Be fooled not
Be fooled not
by the bright sunshine and clear sky
for the cold air kills skin
and shadows still loom
where the sun cannot reach.
I am not alone.
Reading words
like they were written for me
and only me
or by me, with enough practice
comforts me,
reminds me
there are others like me
who feel what I feel.
I am not alone.
practice gratitude
Practice gratitude
for all you have, all you are.
You are your own gift.
burn again
Just because a candle isn’t burning
doesn’t mean it can
or will
no longer burn again.
try on different words
Try on different words
to describe the feelings you feel
like a shirt or pair of pants
in a department store.
Try a new color, or fabric,
something beyond your norm
and watch how you transform.
keep me in silence
Keep me in silence
oh mind,
let words not build in my throat
and escape my lips.
Keep the picture show reeling
behind my eyes, though open,
where I can be the sole attendee
and watch the scenes play out
over and over again.
Keep me in silence
as long as you can
so I can escape
to anywhere.
Dawning Words 