Swallowing Shadows

There

was an old soul swallowing small fears

One after one to quiet the air

A fly is the thought that won't sit still

A tiny dark worry against your will She takes it in so

the room

stays calm Hides the sting in the hollow of her palm Then

comes the spider, a story to spin

A web of reasons to cover what's within

One cure for another,

one weight for the ache A ladder of choices that bend till

they break Tell me what hunger is asking for more

She swallowed the fly to master the fear Swallowed the night just

to keep it near

Layer on layer till the truth goes numb Holding the storm where

the wild notes hum What are we feeding when comfort comes What

are we hiding when comfort comes The bird is a promise of

rising above The cat is the mask of a fierce kind of

love The dog is the noise of a heart on defense The

goat is the burden that jumps every fence The cow is the

world, too heavy to hold The horse is the end of the

tale we've been told

Maybe the rhyme is a map of our pain How we keep

adding names to the same old chain

Maybe she wanted a silence so deep She swallowed the world and

lost her sleep She swallowed the fly to master the fear Swallowed

the night just to keep it near Layer on layer till the

truth goes numb

Holding the storm where the wild notes hum What are we feeding

when comfort comes What are we hiding when comfort

comes

There was an old soul

under the skin

Trying to heal by taking it in