The Bloomsburg Psychological Center, Creative Expression through art & poetry


	Walking Through the Shadows How do I get there? Do I follow the shadow of ONE who will lead? If ONE runs, Can I walk? If ONE is tame, Must I put away my wildness? If ONE demands, Must I obey, Or can I say, “No”? If ONE offers tidbits, Dare I ask for more? If my mind is hungry, Can ONE fill it, Or must I enliven my own dead thoughts? If ONE chooses to go left or right, Must I choose both to secure my passage? If ONE threatens abandonment, Must I provide an offering, Turn myself upside-down, inside-out, Or prepare a banquet to entice ONE to stay? Do I cling to the morals ONE surrendered, Or numb my mind, When ONE instills fear with silence? Should I give voice to the stillness, Before ONE vanishes? Do I hush and hold ONE And pretend not to see, Or choose to speak and own me? Is ONE more important than I am? What happens to the whole, Of what went before? Can this frightened, imperfect self, Find my way on this lone journey, Speak on my behalf, Explore my own thoughts, Find my own balance, Love myself, And grow new roots? Will new rituals hold meaning, Re-knit the broken cords, Lift the unspoken sadness, And fill the empty silences? Will there be strength To face illness alone, To trust, To love, To laugh, To dance, To sing, To create, To preserve meaning from what was? If I face the fear of self-ownership, And self-responsibility, If I attach to my own SHADOW, Will I feel whole again? -Anonymous Back to Healing Poetry index page