taking ten minutes
settle down and clear my mind
a chance to start fresh
Tag: poetry
more than self care
I take at least a dozen breaths,
formulate in my mind what I want to say
typing it out,
erasing, and typing it out again.
This is a safe space.
I ask the question.
How do you know when
you need more than just self care?
Reactions range from widened eyes,
to nodding heads and note-taking,
but him; he offers empathy.
We hardly ever need an engine replacement;
maybe it’s just an oil change or a tire rotation that we need.
Muted on the microphone,
I tremble and quiver in my thick wool sweater
as a tear slides off my cheek
and lands on the keyboard.
swimming upstream
I want to listen to my gut,
follow what I believe, deep down, is right,
but when listening and following
means swimming upstream,
it’s hard.
detour
Just a small diversion this must be,
some kind of detour I should follow,
before resuming my previous trail
of moving forward,
of moving on.
if I could stop thinking of you
Just imagine
the acres of free space
I could free in my mind,
and the hours of free time
I could unleash in my day,
if I could stop thinking of you.
behind my eyes
I can see you in my dreams
almost as clear as stars in the sky.
I can see this fictional world
crafted behind my eyes
and attempted to craft on paper.
You began behind my eyes
and live there every day,
help me go to sleep
daydream
and accompany long drives.
The part of me that never developed
until now.
Acknowledge the pain
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.
Dawning Words 