(Im)balance

A Poem

Photo by JC Dela Cuesta on Unsplash

It’s hard to feel content
with this weight pulling on me,
leaving me out of balance

The weight is so heavy,
a burden I can’t bear,
and all I can think of is
to stand straight and
maintain my balance
through it all
No matter what comes at me
I must maintain this (im)balance

It’s a rocking inside of me
An uneasiness with what is normal,
tipping me to one side
until I tip back and regain my balance
But in order to regain stability
I have to overcorrect,
swaying toward oblivion
just to get traction again

I have no equilibrium
Vertigo feels like sanity
as the world swirls
and I fall to one side
losing my balance
And maybe it’s actually
the (im)balance that
is a relief right now
because if I felt centered
in times like these
I wouldn’t be paying attention
to the maelstrom