Cleansing

I’ve been foiled by this lie before:

The curling worm cringes in

and the fleeing form

sinks down —

This is flight mode,

hide mode,

play dead mode —

It is very effective:

If I try to pry it up

it goes all slidey,

try to lift it and it shrinks back down

The more I try to get it out

the more I am enmired

But I will not give up

If I can’t engage it

(and I can’t)

Then I will flood it out

Flood it with the consciousness

of every tiny, perfect life form,

every act of love under the soil,

every handclasp, every trust,

and all the harmony inherent

in the turnings of the sky,

let those fill me up

so there’s no room

for any lie.

©Wendy Mulhern

June 4, 2013