The Elephant on My Chest
This poem is from a while ago, about a year. Actually generated my very first piece of fan mail. From a 16 year old. I felt so honored. And amazed that she took the time to connect.
The Elephant on My Chest
An elephant came and sat upon my chest
His bottom large and wide
Can you breathe ok, he called down to me
Just barely, I replied
You carry too much weight I told him
Your burden's more than I can bear
Well, you better get used to it, he said
Cause I'm not going anywhere
How do you live with an elephant on your chest
When you can breathe but barely
His weight felt big, overwhelming
And positively scary
What if he gets too comfortable
And stay for days, weeks, even years
Will his presence be so hard and heavy
It squeezes out endless tears
How do you live with an elephant on your chest
Sometimes you just do
Moment by moment, breath by breath
For as long you bloody have to
You accept the heavy and the hard
You begin to bless the burden too
And as you make peace with your elephant
He makes peace with you
For one day my elephant stood up saying
It was time to be on his way
How strange to realize he wanted to go
That elephants prefer NOT to stay
No matter how heavy your elephant's sprawl
If you allow him just to be
At some point you'll watch him waddle away
And finally feel ($#%(@!) free
-Abigail Somma
©2023