Tag: 2019

Caregiver

~ joanvinallcox ~ 2 Comments

“Take care of yourself” they said
But I didn’t know how
To be
That selfish.

“Like on a plane with a dependant” they said
“And the oxygen masks drop down,
Put yours on first;
That’s being responsible.”

Alone,
By the summer lake,
I feel the breeze.

Discordant Dance

~ joanvinallcox ~ Leave a comment 
Discordant Dance

Before I knew I was unhappy
The questions were unanswered.

There was no crisis,
Just the ongoingness
Of dizzying agony.

Without the busyness of costumes,
I became curious:
What shaped these blows?
Why did I accept being thrown away
And jerked back?
Why these steps
In pain
Over and over and over?

How can I stop the dance?
Is it my choice?
Where was this dark dance
Choreographed? 

The mirror watched
As I twirled and twisted,
Watched impassively
Until, finally, a little light bled in.

I almost saw a question,
And twisted away.
I felt an answer trembling at my fingertips,
And closed my eyes.

I tripped, and caught myself
By staring at the mirror.
Again, 
And again.

The mirror saw what I felt:
The dance was shifting, gentling, stretching.

And the questions began shaping
The new choreography.