what binds you
sometimes
there are no words
for what binds you,
for the cage
that keeps you
small and silent.
even i, with all the words at my disposal, have none.
the tiger sees the bars of his cage and paces,
knowing his own strength.
we pace,
not knowing our own,
wondering why we don’t feel free,
forgetting that
sometimes
invisible bars
are the strongest of all.
i apologize.
i do not mean to leave you in despair
when the truth –
your truth –
can slice through the darkness like a clap of thunder
and dissolve
the bars around you.
this is how it starts
after all,
a scream welling up in the silence.
soon enough,
you will learn your own strength.
you will learn that you are free.
Our own-built prisons are the hardest to break free from. Our inner cries the hardest to console. But I don’t see despair in these words, most like a subtle turning toward hope. And hope is the light when we are in the dark. :o) This is BEAUTIFUL, Elizabeth ((HUGS))
I just have to mention that this was inspired by Jane Hirshfield’s poem, For What Binds Us. I hadn’t realized it was inspired so literally until I reread the poem just now and saw the title.
This is lovely.
My learning cannot come soon enough.
((hugs))
the last paragraphs are staggeringly beautiful and painful but enlightening too. poetry touches our hearts in ways other things never can.
and i imagine it touches us all differently.
i was young. i had some major losses within a fairly short period of time.
both my parents, a beloved grandmother and then my husband. i was lost. and reeling.
i remember a grief counselor saying the oddest thing to me ~
“has it occurred to you that all these people had to die before you could be you?”
it struck me as a singularly crude and selfish and insensitive remark at the time.
i never went back. i worked out my own pain.
as you really always have to do anyway.
this poem explains to me what she might have been trying so clumsily to say.
the last two paragraphs are especially meaningful then.
like a painting. we each see in it what we need perhaps. that’s why it’s always a gift from whomever created it. so thank you!
sorry. probably WAY too much information here! just wanted you to know it was a little breakthrough ~ even after all these years. and now i can lay her remark to rest.
xo
i can’t even begin to express how meaningful this post is to me and on today of all days. thank you.
Tracy: So true. And so interesting how it still seems like our own bars should be easiest to break, even though I know from experience they are not.
Casey: Wishing for whatever you need most along the way.
Tammy: Ohhh, like you, I’m sure she meant well, but oh, what a hard thing to hear when you were grieving. Sending love to young you and you of now. I’m glad you found your way to understanding.
Andrea: I’m glad I shared it. Thinking of you. p.s. Finn is seriously adorable in that pic!
These are powerful words.