Container

I am a container
A receptacle
For other people
For their rubbish
Their hatred, their anger, their despair
Their sorrow, their rage, their resentment

I take it in
Absorb it
Detoxify it
Send it out, hopefully with the burden lightened
For them
For me

But sometimes I get tired
And weary
And my containment slows and screeches to a halt
Inside the turmoil and anguish of many lurches around
And crashes into the delicate coils and cogs of the machinary that keeps me going

Then I need to go offline
Time out
Space from all

From others, their lives, their problems
From me....

I need that time and space now
I have over filled the container to bursting
And the tears are flowing out
And there is no holy water or magic spell to sprinkle on it
To heal it
and me
and help me glide on

My fault
My responsibility


Yet despite the gripping inside me
Of a thousand hands and voices in despair
I know that in the end all will be well

I have been through worse, far worse
Through a woman seeking to end my life
Through my son's near death and damage
Through the loss of my reason for living

My tears will dry on their own
I will survive
And I will not be broken
And I will continue to grow and dance in the darkness
Until I see the light again