Bitterness is heavy surf …violent turbulent surf
The stuff of hurricanes and tsunamis
When earth shakes her core and
Blows off steam, rages in the winds of water too warm
And pressure to low
Bitterness is the byproduct of disaster….it is left
In the After….
and one can succumb to it and be drug down deep and buried alive
till death comes by the suffocating cynicism that follows
or
one can swim to joy….
Yes joy is also a byproduct of disaster
It is earned in the dark night of despair
It comes not in ease or comfort,
Not in delight or fancy
For those are folly and fortune both which will not
And cannot last
Joy comes in the patience
and practice of gratefulness
of
The everyday things that for a moment seemed lost….
The one who shows up
The call that is made
The hand that is lent
The breath of clean air
The laugh of a child
Joy is the sweet smell of salt left in the air when the storm disappears
And the winds die down….
Joy is the resolve
To not let bitterness destroy
What remains