Where’s the tsunami when you need it? –
when you want to give up on everything,
when you want a quiet box to hide in,
when at least, some thought inside you
makes a case for all of that,
says that you’re sad,
says you’re discouraged,
says you deserve to feel bad
(so go ahead, indulge)
and what you’ve undertaken
is very, very hard – who wouldn’t feel the same in your  condition?

So it insults me, in its wager
that I won’t get the insult,
won’t notice that by saying this is hard,
it calls me weak, won’t notice
these are not my thoughts at all

But I will overcome  –
there is no gain for me in going down,
there is no win in naming myself lost,
there is no reason to listen to these lies –
Enough – I say, begone!

©Wendy Mulhern
November 2, 2022