Dear co-traveller,
Here’s the thing.
No one’s going to force feed you greens
when you’ve forgotten to take your vitamins.
No one’s going to fill the empty fridge,
the window sill
with blooming flowers,
No one’s going to stop the howling
wind, the empty spaces that always find
their way in, those skilled-at-being-friendly
Intruders.
And no one’s going to sew that hole
in your jeans, the wounds, the holes,
your heart’s old wounds
And
Bills don’t pay themselves,
plants won’t water themselves,
dishes won’t wash themselves,
Hearts don’t mend themselves
these days
unless
unless you get dirty
unless you get working
unless you get mending
what’s yours and worthy
and deserving enough to be
fixed.
***
Here’s the thing, co-traveller.
If you keep falling and waiting,
falling and wanting
If you keep falling like a pin
on a map
like a pin landing on his map
whenever he is lonely enough
to call you
back
If you keep falling like that
into his arms,
No one’s going to lift you up
unless
you stand up.
***
Here’s the thing co-traveller.
That picture of her from your last trip
that picture of him kissing your cheek
won’t be erased from your memory
if you keep scrolling like that
scrolling through memoirs
the remnants of happy days
this torture of happy days on sad days
won’t end
unless
you bring it to an end.
***
Dear co-traveller,
The pills don’t always work,
and the doctors, the ice cream,
the friends, the music, the cheese
don’t always put you at ease,
All the popcorn and butter
won’t end
your heart’s melt
and sometimes you’ll be cool on the outside
but burning within
and sometimes you’ll be brave on the outside
but empty within
and sometimes you just won’t have the words
to tell the world where it hurts and
the medicine, the makeup, the mask
won’t cover the mess,
sometimes this mess is all there is,
This adult life throwing its buckets of lemons at you,
one by
one,
on your delicate, confused head.
So forgive yourself.
For the heartache,
the mind-ache, whatever it is,
for this mess you are in.
***
Child, you should have known better.
Cry, forget
then laugh it all off.
Rational Artist 