Do you have these moments? It happens inexplicably, in a flash — the whole of your own story washes over you in a way that leaves you kind of breathless? It’s kind of ‘life flashes before your eyes‘ but without the threat of death (Ha!). Maybe without the death threat, they don’t remain for long in my memory. I don’t know, but I had one this week and it lingered.

When

When my story falls
like an avalanche
over my heart
every letter a stone
coming quick
in a crushing crescendo.
I can’t stop it,
or slow it
and the force of it
stops my breath
because I could have been
…can be – swept away
with the debris.
But here I am
still standing.

The emotion resides
within the tight patterns
and habits of living,
so I whisper a prayer
To the Mercy:
exhale, give thanks
(to bring the worry that dogs me to heal)
and let my attention linger
on some small wonder, full,
real, simple, piece
of today.

© 2020 Laurel Archer