The Earthquake

It's like an earthquake.

The world shifts around you,

Shaking your heart, shaking your mind,

Shaking your control until it crumbles away

Leaving you both helpless and defenseless,

And you are scared and shaking

But not because of the ground.

It's like an earthquake.

Because debris falls around you

And it blurs your vision, 

But it's not debris, not really.

It is your emotions,

Overwhelming and all-consuming,

Until they are all you can see.

It's like an earthquake,

As you sit surrounded completely,

By that debris, those powerful emotions,

And you feel suffocated.

So breathing takes effort.

In and out, you breathe, in and out.

And you attempt to find that control you lost.

It's like an earthquake

Because you're confused at the start,

And you don't know what's happening.

You might figure out what it is somehow

But the confusion still remains.

It's disorienting and debilitating.

Making you incapable of helping yourself.

And in this earthquake,

Where you fight to breathe,

Where confusion is everywhere,

All you can do is struggle.

And you try to grip the edges of the world,

To hold it still, to calm it. 

But you can't ever succeed.

In an earthquake like this,

You have no power at all.

You cannot calm the world.

You cannot calm yourself.

Then the tears finally come,

And stream down your face;

The only visible hint of the storm inside.

An earthquake is so cruel,

That your friends cannot fathom it.

Because they weren't there.

They didn't experience it.

So they smile awkwardly at you,

Because they can accept it,

Even if they never understand.

And after the earthquake,

When the world has settled

And finally you can breathe,

You smile softly to yourself.

Because you have survived.

And are thankful for all that is good.

And maybe even for the earthquakes.

Because an earthquake teaches you.

To adapt and to grow,

To be thankful for the stillness,

And never take it for granted.

It gives you eyes for the truth,

The truth of what's really important.

Like love, virtue, and family.

And even in my own earthen storm,

When my mind, body, and soul are in pain,

I still know the truth somehow;

That the earthquake is not real,

Even though it feels like it is.

So I will be alright in time.

At least until the next earthquake.