Amidst the Chaos About Me I See: Aubrey and Floyd, Cooper and Karens, masks and no masks, pandemic and hoax, guns in state capitals and Minneapolis burning, …
I
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I see
A cascade of emotions
Birthed by images
And words on a screen
I want to cry
I want to scream
I want to flee
I want to fight
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I seeII
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I see
Urgent fearful desperation
Grabs me in a stranglehold
I’m ashamed of being me
Thoughts and images
I cannot let go and yet
Cannot hold in my fearful heart
Lives reduced to tweets
And tribal taunts
Obscure the pain of loss
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I seeIII
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I see
It’s stillness I need
A place to breathe
And a refuge to be
To let go of urgency
And let life slow
Just a little
95 89 87 83
97 94 92 88
82 77 79 81
75 74 73 72
Go the beats of my heart
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I seeIV
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I see
Within the precious pauses
Awareness gives birth
To clarity and possibilities
Coalesce in heart body and mind
A way to break free from this trance
A path forward with the voice I need
Amidst the swirling
Chaos about me I see
About the Author
Robert B. is a sober alcoholic in Madison, WI participating in AA and AlAnon at Fitchburg Serenity Club. He has been sober since April 21, 2007. He also began writing and sharing poetry on Facebook during his first year sober as part of his recovery from alcohol dependency, acute anxiety and chronic depression. He has found that creativity expressed primarily through writing poetry and playing various stringed instruments helped him heal and thrive.
I love how this poem talks about a way forward. Not a simple avoidance of the issues, but a way for the necessary response to the issues becomes more clear. That’s how I interpreted it, anyway. Thank you so much for sharing your work with us!
Thank you Lena. Yes a way forward was exactly what unfolded as I wrote. These 3 parts were each written over 3 consecutive days. Like so much of what I write, I begin in one place and end up in another, sometimes unexpected place, in writing and in life.
thank you for your kind and thoughtful comment.
Robert