Be gentle with yourself
My Hometown Poem #80
Be gentle With yourself As with a newborn. Cradle your fragile soul In your arms Until you are stronger. Be gentle With yourself As with an egg. Cup the warm round shell Of your heart In the palms of your hands. While you transport it reverently To a place of safety. There is never just one loss. Despair inhabits the body. Like being slammed against a wall Or held under water, Grief grips you in a chokehold. Oh, the world may see you as Invincible Even brave or fearless or daring. But there is sorrow so deep So nameless It’s shocking that it does not show On your face In your gaze In your gait. Pain so pervasive You can smell the pungent Odor on your own skin. The delicate and fleeting objects among us Are often the most beautiful. They are so easily broken That attention is demanded. An iridescent bubble floating in the air A gossamer spider web stretching between leaves The vulnerable peony’s Fragrant and flushed petals Here and gone In the blink of an eye The icy snowflake melting Like a cool tear on your cheek The flutter of a butterfly A floating ash Be gentle With yourself. Rock yourself slowly. Let the wind come and sooth you Let the sun warm your face Until you are stronger.
I’m honored to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Below are the members of the Iowa Writers Collaborative in alphabetical order.
Really enjoyed this poem. Thanks for sharing.
This poem probably hits home for a lot of people. It is to those people I wish to say, pay attention to this and believe me when I say there is another side to get to. It may be a long way ahead, but it is there. I know because I made it.