just breathe

what ladder do we build
that will bear us up
from the unreasoned pit
of our primitive rage
what caution do we construct
at its margin to prevent us
from tumbling back
into the seething soup

we, each and every one of us,
are branded with the bucket
that fills with anger in a flash
we are martyred to carry it
and yet called to do no harm
to be thirsty for it’s drama
and still not to partake

step one, breathe in rogue emotion,
sense its awesome power; 
step two, feel the sensations
as they settle and move through our body; 
step three, breathe out self-love
repeat and watch the spring uncoil; 

too far from being animal
for animal reason, rules,
and inborn constraint,
we define ourselves as human
and yet so often
we fail to be humane



lucy meskill