When I feel like curling up into a small ball,
when all I want are arms that will envelop me,
when tears are peering out my windows
edging for a place they can release

When I have cried until I stopped
and feel I might again,
and my outlook is too small
to take a long view,
and I have given up on stories,
so I have none,
and there’s no reason, nothing I can ask for

Let me remember
I can keep at this as long as I still want to,
I can let whatever triggers this
give all it has.
When it is all done,
I’ll feel the arms around me
and the steady, constant comfort
that they always give.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 5, 2021