MARCH 12, 2015
 

A huge part of assisting people as an individual and couples counsellor/psychotherapist is searching the shadows of my own thoughts and emotions to reveal what I need to bring to light, in order to heal. For one can only recognize what one knows; and so to help others through their pain, I too, need to know and hold my own.
 

I wrote this poem while training in psychotherapy, when sadness and pain surfaced in my own therapy. I share these deeply personal words in case you too, could use some acknowledgement of your own losses.
 

Grief

I am floating on the wide expanse of sea
Blurry mists
Crashing waves washing me out farther from now distant and once-safe shores.
 

Soothing, caressing, warm waters that heave and sigh
They flow out from me
Soft drizzle pounding into a silent scream.
 

I am floating on the sea of my tears.
 

I gasp beneath the wide expanse of my grief.
Murky depths into my own no-man’s land.
Nowhere to run, no place to hide
Everywhere I turn I see It, reaching out with the desperate plea of the unwanted.
 

“Look at me,” It says, “I am here.”
 

I turn and lash, “I do not want you.”
 

I am floating on the wide expanse of my tears
A sea of pain
Turbulent night, roar of thunder
 

When do I see the break of day?
 

©2015 Copyright Margie Santos