Like velvet

I am learning to unlearn

all of the ways I’ve been failing myself,

depriving my body of the rest it needs and my mind

of the peace it longingly craves.

What does peace mean for a weary mind?

It may be pushing the windows open,

shoving the curtains aside to make room

for the spring breeze. And it could be

all we need is time, blank space to create

something, if only selfishly

and for the sacred frame of mind we gave the name

sanity.

Rest for an aching body is not losing sleep over trivial upsets

nested in the day to day, when we flow

from one place to the next, or drag our feet along

in silent anguish. The dragging, this is how we end up

bloodied

and bruised. Keeping mouths closed and bearing it

is how we end up pulled beneath the current,

tumbling in search for solid ground.

I no longer wish to count the bruises

blooming over my skin and battering

the soft folds of my thoughts.

I want to feel smooth as velvet, like cool water

washing over warm, salty skin in relief.