Artful Alternatives
Bowing Out Gracefully - A Poem
The sword we pick up gently is always double edged.
Should you rip them in two and run?
Or face them and your traumas
Sword pointed at their heart,
as you quietly back away?
The fight is barely worth the energy.
It exists only within your own mind.
Your old soul screams
‘Not This’,
‘Stay Put’,
’Leave me alone’
’Don’t Go’
‘Here we are again’
But dropping your guard
And letting them go
Brings a crowd, a strangle hold,
A heavier anchoring.
Their painful ridicule
of your calm resolve,
weighs like a rock,
and rots like death.
Yes, Bowing out gracefully
From the thing they claimed they never wanted,
Is a double edged sword,
Designed to slice you twice.
Bleed you out until numb
And then twist in the wound
When you thought it was blunted.
But it was a graceful end.
Wasn’t it?
As the draw-bridge finally rises.
This castle feels safe again.