The edge you carry with you

You know 

so very well 

the edge 

of darkness

you have

always

carried with you.

You know 

so very well,

your childhood legacy:

that particular, 

inherited 

sense of hurt,

given to you 

so freely

by the world 

you entered.

And you know 

too well 

by now

the body’s 

hesitation

at the invitation 

to undo

everything

others seemed 

to want to 

make you learn.

But your edge 

of darkness

has always 

made 

its own definition 

secretly

as an edge of light

and the door

you closed

might, 

by its very nature

be 

one just waiting

to be leant against 

and opened.

And happiness 

might just

be a single step away,

on the other side

of that next 

unhelpful

and undeserving 

thought.

Your way home,

understood now,

not as an achievement,

but as a giving up,

a blessed undoing,

an arrival

in the body 

and a full rest 

in the give

and take 

of the breath.

This living

breathing body

always waiting 

to greet you

at the door,

always prepared 

to give you 

the rest you need,

always,

no matter

the long 

years away,

still

wanting you, 

to come home.

…

From ‘The Edge You Carry With You’

in ‘Still Possible’ David Whyte

Many Rivers Press Dec 1st 2021