Rising Up

Have you ever been hit so hard by the strong

Winds of life

That you laid flat, numb

Unable to Rise Up.

So paralyzed by the mighty blow

That your innards seemed to behold

No inner strength to move forward.

When all those around begged and pleaded

Come awake, come back to me

Come back to yourself.

Who are you, Where did you go?

When they turned away because they no longer

Recognized you.

This is the moment one must travel inward to

The deep belly of the human ecology,

When one stands alone with the wind and

Says, “help me”

I must carry on, show me how.

How do I live again, taste the sweetness of a strawberry,

The tenderness of a kiss.

How do I let life open me up again when

The opening reminds me of the what I have lost.

Going forward requires a focus on what has been gained.

If we asked just one of our dear loved ones who have already passed

For instruction, they would say

The blow was not fatal

Rise up

And Live

Use your legs and whatever is left inside to

Carry On.

               ~Lori Ellis McKinney  (2014)