dam (with auDio)
against the elements
They told us
to be like the dam.
.
Stand still.
.
Hold everything.
.
The rain.
The floods.
The grief no one else wanted.
The apologies we never received.
The names we learned to answer to
that never belonged to us.
…
They told us
to stand firm, proud.
.
Show no weakness.
.
Retain all that collects.
.
Inside.
Outside.
Become a posture of stillness.
Show no breakdown in strength.
Don’t let the cracks show even when
everything inside is screaming to let go.
…
Brick by brick,
we mortared ourselves together
with survival
and called it strength.
.
Every bad year
raised the waterline.
.
Every goodbye
filled the reservoir.
.
Every betrayal
was another river
looking for somewhere to empty itself.
…
Our foundation was rocked
by the very things which we
were told would remain stable,
by design.
.
An undermine of our start,
our basis for all we’d
experienced.
.
An overflow.
An uprising from beneath.
.
All that we were, are and will be
was now at the mercy
of the elements.
…
Photo: Image Stock
 | A guest post by
|
They built themselves
into something
that could hold everything.
Then discovered
that holding everything
was the thing
breaking them.
— AËLA
Stunning poetry! Brilliant peice! Thank you. 🖤