The Quiet Power

I walked backwards, against time

and that’s where I caught the moon,

singing at me.

I stepped downwards, into my seat

and that’s where I caught freedom,

waiting for me, like a lilac.

I ended thought, and I ended story.

I stopped designing, and arguing, and

sculpting a happy life.

I didn’t die. I didn’t turn to dust.

Instead I chopped vegetables,

and made a calm lake in me

where the water was clear and sourced

and still.

And when the ones I loved came to it,

I had something to give them, and

it offered them a soft road out of pain. 

I became beloved.

And I came to know that this was it.

The quiet power.

I could give something mighty, lasting,

that stopped the wheel of chaos,

by tending to the river inside,

keeping the water rich and deep,

keeping a bench for you to visit. 

-Tara Sophia Mohr