I am not the storm

I will not run from my pain

I will turn to face it gently

While making a space

Inside my heart

With my breath

For all of this buried

Fear and emotion

Darkness can be a comfort

After a night when rain fell

And I tasted it on my tongue

Then lay breathing with the waves

Sensing the fear of my own body

When it and my soul became a stranger

Then it was

I was truly lost

But when I turn to face myself

I come home

As I kneel to touch this precious earth

And give blessings and thanks

Even as

All of this grief like an ocean

Pours out of my eyes

For

I am not the storm

I am the soul

Facing and releasing the storm

I am not afraid of storms, as I am learning to sail my ship

Louisa May Alcott