I'm strong enough to hold my own head up.
I don't need anyone.
I can survive and excel.
I'm tough.
Alone often.
I'm like a galvanized 2" ring shank nail.
I persevere.
And people expect and respect it.
Count on it even.
Like a mountain that will always be there.
But, oh, thank God,
I have this precious place,
Where I can lay my head down and
The mountain can crumble.
The mountain can crumble.
Where I feel safe exposing my weaknesses.
Where my soul is held tender and sacred.
Where I can rest. And reflect.
And turn my inside out completely and twice over. Blood and infection and all.
Curse.
Break down.
Express utter desperation and despair.
Cry.
Report failure.
And then laugh.
I have a place where I don't have to be strong. Or right. Or perfect.
Where there's a hand to hold,
And even arms to wrap around me.
I didn't earn it or buy it.
I just merely asked for it,
Like playing the lottery.
But I actually won.
It's so much beyond what my comprehension was -
I had no clue how great the gift was that I innocently requested.
I thought I was getting maybe an hour of time, on the hopeful side.
Maybe two hours, if I held my breath just right.
Because this place was exceedingly Important and Busy.
A Land Where All Shit Was Totally and Completely Put Together.
A sharp contrast to My Inner.
It's not by a stream. Or under a tree. Or looking at the sky. Or hearing a song. Or in reading a book. Or even in taking a personality test.
It's immersed in unconditional love.
It's hand in hand with acceptance,
It's embraced with truth.
Someone who will say "Ouch."
Someone who tells me gently when I'm wrong.
Someone who isn't trying to harvest me for their own sake.
Someone without an agenda or stop watch.
The term Friendship seems like calling fireworks sparklers.
Or a thunderstorm a mist.
Or ALS a sickness.
Even a poem falls completely flat in the oven.
Because, you see, it's so great that mere words could not ever express it.
Like a sunrise.
