The Stories we Tell Ourselves

Focail do a Chara

Photo Credit Christine Salkin Davis

I can do it by myself.

I’m a self-made man.

Asking for help is weak.

Falling under the heavy weight of burdens borne far too long is failure.


The truth is,

I can’t do it alone,

any of it.

Neither can you.

We need each other.

I need you and

you need me.


The truth is,

unless you changed your own diapers,

and fed from your own breasts,

and taught yourself how to read,

and put out your own fires,

and set your own bones,

and blessed your own bread and wine,

you are not self-made.


The truth is,

I am in you, and

you are in me, and

the sky, sea, and earth

feed me and everything else,

warm me,

heal me,

hold me.


The stories we tell ourselves.

I love you and

you love me, and

you are the warm sun on my face,

the soft breeze that tickles my nose,

the strong arms that carry me,

the heart that beats in rhythm with mine.


The truth is,

I need you and

you need me and

that is the story we tell ourselves.

© Christine Salkin Davis, 2017


Originally published at christinesdavisphd.blogspot.com on July 27, 2017.

Christine Salkin Davis

Written by

I write a blog called "Focail do a Chara," a compilation of arts-based, poetic, and narrative thoughts on living and dying, caring and being.

Poets Unlimited

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