The peaks
Before the peaks
The hills
Before the hills
The valley
Before the valley
I must leave
This place of numbing
Before I die
Before the peaks
The hills
Before the hills
The valley
Before the valley
I must leave
This place of numbing
Before I die
Still…
That is enough
To stave the pain
In this hollow I’ve carved out
From tendrils of deepest sorrow
I find resolve to carry on
Beaten
Vulnerable
I rose, vowing not to be struck again
Opting for the only defense remaining
Offense
Though the paths I see
Attain neither peak nor pass
Trapped in this valley of lassitude
Now as an adult
I am dominated by the fear
I learned as a child
Now I watch my waitress
And I wonder if she is also processing
The traumas of a dimly remembered past
While serving another table’s drink orders
I wonder if the waitress knows
That in the every day of just going along
Her mind, and her heart, and her spirit
Process the hard work that is so upsetting
“You did not go crazy”
“You did not die”
“You lived and never let go of the light
Even when you were plunged into the darkness”
“And all you learned to cope
With the trauma so many years ago
Keeps you alive now
While you heal”
There is a place
I want to be
Or fled in fear
I’m not sure which
Until I breach
And clamber through
Then come to know
Beyond the fence
Yes
I know something about you
Moon
But soon enough
The stars, and the Milky Way
So I want to thank you now
Moon
For the reminder to come
That I need not linger
In the dusk