first post ever :)
Untitled, 6.15.22
What does it mean to begin anew?
Is it to rise from the ashes just as a phoenix does,
Forged from fire anew, from an elder to a babe,
Relinquish all you have lived, all you have learned,
Let your wrinkles and grey hair burn into
A new baby’s naked form–
To accept that the old has died and turned to black,
All there is left to do is leave your nest once again,
And venture out into the new but familiar sky?
Or is it to lose yourself in the ocean’s currents,
Allow yourself to be carried and tossed and cradled
In the waves,
Don’t swim, don’t struggle, just float–
Cool waters will shield you from the sun’s
Vengeful rays, and if you hit jagged rocks
And sharp coral, the salt from the seas
Will heal your wounds once again.
To accept, to adapt, to change,
Just as the tides do?
Maybe it is to root yourself into the earth,
Strong, sturdy, unbending like the trees,
Entrench yourself deep into the dirt
And grow your branches high into the clouds,
So no one, not even you,
Can doubt your will and path. Let the rain
Quench your thirsty leaves and in turn,
Nourish the squirrels and worms and mushrooms
with your fruit and green and brown,
To be part of the whole, give to the whole,
And be given by the whole, while standing proudly
On your solid foundation?
Perhaps, instead,
It is to do no foolish thing
And liken yourself to a phoenix,
Or a tree, or the waves.
Perhaps, instead,
there is no begin, there is no anew,
Just you, and always,
Just you.
And that is okay.
