Only so much time
can be spent in shock
though waves and afterwaves
of revelation
keep sending their tremors
roiling and insistent
throughout the startled landscape
of my consciousness

Only so much time
can be given
to parsing out the network
of the old lies —
how they snared us
is far less relevant
that what we need to do
and how we can,
and how we follow the imperative
to rise.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 29, 2015