On Paper

Finally, I can put down in words all the memories and all the pain. When I see them written in front of me, they seem almost manageable. ~ Courage to Change, page 242

Finite. Limited. Having an end.
When I feel like the whole world
rails against me, everyone's angry,
I'm alone without a friend,
without a warm body except enemies
it's good to know the demarcation line.
But in my head they roil, they seethe,
they seem a stampeding herd of buffalo
followed by seventy-two swarms of bees
with a writhing swarm of snakes
and spiders on every surface.
But when written down, the lion-tamer's whip
of simply setting them on paper
suffices to tame them, to number them,
to meld them into a manageable lump
to be addressed one at a time
and set aside, a lesson learned.