Facing the Storm

I wrote this, this morning. I have been feeling pretty bleak, but the act of writing took me somewhere. I hope it can do that for you too. I think it is important to speak of the dark as well as the light. To recognise our fear as well as finding ways to find our way back to hope, faith and optimism. I think this is deep soul work and I hope this poem can serve you in the navigation of all those territories as the writing of it has helped me:

There Is No Solid Ground

There is no-one left to hold us anymore
No-one who is not
Immersed in this thing
No-one who can be
The sane voice
Or raise their warm embrace
As a place of sanctuary

We can all offer ourselves up
As shoulder to lean
Or cry
Or curl up on,
But none of us is not
In the soup
Of this thing.

So we must hold each other
Of course
Share loving embrace
Or loving gaze
Or loving thoughts
But we must find another source
Of strength

When even the most solid of foundations begins to crack
We have to turn to the fragile
Fluttering and fleeting
Edges
Of the unknown

There is a whispering
Nourishment
To be found
In the dusty corners of our awareness

A thread
Hard to grasp and tarnished
But golden when we wrap
Our fingers in it's filament
Barely there at all
But strong enough to pull us towards safety

You, mystery
Shine a little brighter now
Please
Wait a little longer now
At the precipice
To lead us gently back 

There is a boat
On this storm-wracked sea
No solid ground
(I'm sorry
I cannot offer you that)
But dry and buoyant
Even in the flood

Perhaps that was Noah's secret
The knowing God shared with him
That when there is no solid ground
We must float on the waves
And make our peace
With the rush and crash of the storm

We must remember
That even the creaking of the boards
Fearful noises
Signals of how fierce the storm has become
Are also
The voice of hope
Reminding us
That we are still afloat
Still afloat
Still afloat