No, I will not dip one toe
into the roil of fear —
I know how it could take me,
throw me off balance,
spin me under, with its fiercening demands
and not deliver me
(the way that it had promised)
to the other side —
It can’t be forded
and I can’t afford it

I will ride instead
along the winds of peace,
the billowing uplift
that holds my soul
in tender balance,
that fills my heart,
gradual as the dawn,
with the clear perception
that all is well.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 3, 2015