A Serene Softening

A Serene Softening

A recent experience
of feeling safe, buoyant,
held yet again,
enables an intricate mix
of vulnerability and courage
to stir deep within.

Outworn, inflicted patterns,
once carefully concealed,
are bathed in light,
given the opportunity
to disperse, absorb, transmute
in whatever ways are right.
Dynamic stillness
yields ever more opportunity
to notice, honor, allow
with far less tension and disquiet.
This can feel drifty, muffled, vague
as when winds or rains
interrupt crystal clear reflections.
What glee there can be
when those images resettle,
 can be observed
with fresh awareness,
insight, and delight.
When one was taught that
needing help means weakness or failure,
which was essentially only true for you,
the recognition of the bold energy it has taken
to look deep and up and out
since the loss of a Love that anchored
is both validating and liberating.
There’s a serene softening of the soul.
Rest calmly on solid banks
as confusion clears,
 energy enlivens
in your depths, in the wideness,
and within the faith that reveals.

Sarah Carlson
November 11, 2022