
The Storm
Sometimes the weight of disappointment gathers up a storm so strong it takes my breath away
and I feel as if I am drowning in sadnesses,
choking on the bits and pieces of dreams lost and suddenly discarded,
fragments of scenes slipping through my fingers as I try to grasp, hold on to something solid.
I come up for air and take in gulps of reality,
gasping at its acrid scent and sickening taste.
My feet search for sturdier ground
but find, instead, this verse, this moment,
shifting, changing,
and infinitely naked.
I give up the struggle and float,
letting thoughts and emotions, anger and hurt, what ifs and why nots, buts and not nows, not evers and never agains, wishes and Plan Bs, you didn’ts and not thats
wash away from me
like waves returning to the sea.
I am in a riptide of what is
and the only way out is to accept it, relax, and
swim parallel to shore to find new waters, calmer waters.
Feel the sand beneath my toes.
It is surprisingly firm and I stand, shaky but alive.
Still here. Still me.
I watch the tide go out.
©Christine Salkin Davis, please subscribe to my blog here

