Breathe
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Your heart got stronger because it had to beat through the scars. Wound after wound and you hardened it to keep it safe but the heart naturally wants to be soft, so it threw off the lies you said were protection spells, crashing against those walls until they tumbled. You went down with them. It didn’t feel like it, but you were free.
Now you are stumbling along a path that seems too bright. Stop squinting. You are closing your eyes against hope and what comes next now that your heart is free.
There are no yellow bricks. A tornado came through this way. You remember because it caught you up and took you to a different road for a time. But look behind you and see the way you have come. Just a slip of your head to the side before you face forward again. You don’t want to get turned around.
Put your hand to your chest and feel the wet heat of blood. You are touching your heart, and it hurts, but that’s what it means to be open. Keep stumbling forward. Keep crying. Keep bleeding all over the world.
You know what you are? Fierce. Brave. Wise. You are a piece of the sun finding her way home. Never shield your eyes against that light. Never fear the burning. It is essence of who you are. Breathe the fire as easily as you once believed you’d breathe water. Feel your heart beat and breathe.
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I like reading poems out loud, and I've done this and it left me speechless. Reflecting on my past experiences.
In the first stanza, I see the walls I built up, crashing down on me. Not only are they overwhelming and painful (bricks hurt), but it is followed by too much light. I was depressed. I was used to the darkness. The darkness had comfort. This new 'light', it's uncomfortable. But I taste freedom. I'm not shackled to the gloomy walls. I do not know warmth, but I have the ability to finally test it out.
Love the Wizards of Oz reference! No matter how much time passes, I always acknowledge the pain, the hurricane. As you stated, we can acknowledge our past, but do not get stuck in it. Keep moving. I did come a long way, but that time is gone, and I only look at it to see how strong I was to cast those walls down in the first place.
I will be forever in pain, for I am human. I bleed. The bleeding cannot stop me. If I stop walking, I will bleed out, and die in the middle of nowhere, on a lonely path. I have to make it. I have to keep going, through all the difficulties that I face. Scorching sun and freezing snow. Keep going, for moving forward is the only way to be alive.
~
That was... wow, an intense journey. That aside, I would revisit the line "You are closing your eyes against hope and what comes next now that your heart is free." It distracted me a bit from the whole flow (like that stump in the middle of a river, you know). Probably I would put the "Now that your heart is free" in the beginning of that sentence, or add a comma before.
One last thing, to anyone who is feeling down or hopeless, do not give up. Not everyone will understand how you feel, but there are millions like me and you. I had been stuck for 2 years in an endless pit - depressed all the time, no pleasure. no joy. I broke free, and I hope you will do too <3
I like your constructive suggestion! I think it makes good sense and will be revisiting that line. I also love this as a response, to have the feedback of you sitting in this piece is wonderful. Thank you for such care in your engagement. :)
I could say that I don't just read poetry, I BREATHE it.
I will excuse myself out after this pun.
LOL. I appreciate that pun.
Awesome an well written, Thanks for sharing
LOL. Thank you!
Çok anlamlı tebrikler
I literary tried it when you mentioned..."Put your hand to your chest and feel the wet heat of blood."
But was positively moved when I read this:
I now affirmed a heart breathing through the scars....Breathe through the fire as one who assume breathing in water.
Real psychological poetry!!!!
Thank you for this affirmation. It lifts my spirits and I hope you are deeply benefiting. <3
Your posts always leave me in an awe. Such inspiring piece each better than the previous one. Keep it up.
What a compliment! Thank you! <3
Deep post. The world can definitely be a tornado, and it is definitely not paved with golden bricks.
I totally agree with you, the best thing for us to do is be ourselves and keep moving forward. What is in the past will remain.
I'm grateful for that fact. I like the past just where it is. :)
I came across this video:
It reminded me a little of your piece you create.
C'est sympa et magnifique!
Merci!
How many of us delay or even prevent healing because we are unwilling to go through the pain that is necessary. Yet the heart beats on. Like the skin off a blister or a scab off a wound, there is rawness and vulnerability, but only then does restoration occur. And you hit so beautifully on the ways we cuddle in our wounds, building protective bricks that lack substance or casting spells, which are impotent, while our heart longs to move beyond, and to not allow victory to those who sought to tear us down and stomp us out... but failed. We squint because healing seems unfamiliar... daunting... even surreal when we've accepted abuse and fear and pain as our new homeostasis. But this is an empowering light you speak of. It does not burn us, but bathes us in fire which fuels our progress and our future. No more hiding in self induced deceptive deliriums which seek to justify our trials through fantasy... The tornado was real. The storms will keep coming... There never were gold bricks lining our path through denial... We feel the heat of our life source and stumble forward... it is not the bleeding that is fearful, only if it stops. Once again you paint an amazingly vivid picture of pain and denial and healing and strength and overcoming and survival. Very captivating and poignant. Thanks. Quite uplifting.
Would you be open to me mining your work? I mean, this right here is poetry. I would love to impose a shape on it and publish it for you.
You flatter me by attributing value to anything I say. If you feel there is something useful, then I am honored that you can make something of them. If in our discussions you find a lump of clay, your skill may well make it a pot. If a lump of coal, press it and make a diamond.
This comment makes me 😍😍😍😍
Moving and well written poem, has meaning behind the words.
Thank you!
Heartfelt! We all build up walls around us in order to prevent getting hurt, though we neglect to admit that the heart has its own way of healing. Each tornado we encounter on the way is a learning curve. Being open and accepting our path, our cross is the only way to happiness.
Flexibility is the path to adaptation and, in turn, emotional ease by allowing the heart freedom to heal in the way it most needs. ❤️