the trick is

The trick is
to look at it.
To stare it right in the fucking eyes,
without flinching or flailing,

without battling or resisting,
without refusing your own closing
or any condition other than
wide-open.

And when you finally resolve to
honor your own humanity
and allow yourself to feel
what is yours to feel,
you will hear them come.

Passion and Anger
Guilt and Shame
Pain and Fear (and… Joy?)
come bubbling up to the surface
as you stare straight into your self.

The trick is
not to look away when they do come,
but to catch your first frightful fleeting reaction
with loving arms of empathetic understanding,
and whisper, “Peace, Child. All will be well…
let us open our Self unto them….
Let them come…”

Only,
require it
that each
must look you
in the eye
as they do.

And unto each, speak:
“Welcome, friend; Welcome.
I have made a space for you here,
and I have been expecting you.
Come step into the Light now,

where I might see you better, and know you;
where you might be acknowledged, honored,
heard, listened to, understood,
and, ultimately, accepted in this place.”

and
I promise you
everything
will sound so
incredibly silent
after that.

© Charlie Young, 2021