Word of the Day: Memory

He advised me to replay disturbing memories from a distance,

Not as the character hurt in the film but as a film-viewer, detached —

          The car crashes, the mis-touches, the playground punches... 

I watch the pains of my past but don't invite them here.

They shrivel at the threshold. Their fangs shall not feed. 

"But what about recent incidents?" I ask, "Like last month?

I'm still stuck in that horror story. I can't cut myself away..." 

Chaos happens. We cannot control the oceans. Sharks bite.

But don't be the caged hermit. Face the typhoon. Trust like minds. 

Be the albatross — at times solitary, at times social. Find your flock... 

_____

Dedicated to all heroic mental health professionals