My Old Friend

I've felt your coming for quite some time now,
But I'm hard-pressed to articulate the specific reasons why.
Maybe it's just a collection of things.

So, my old friend...
Here you are back at more door.
I've no choice but to let you in,
To embrace you instead of running away.

It seems I've run from you for so long,
but now that I've stopped, I know that I can run no longer.
I wish you weren't here but at the same tiem, I'm glad you are.

I know I have to face the fact that,
To live life, I must welcome you...
Because, only through you...
Can I begin to heal and to walk in the light.

I'm beginning to understand your presence,
And why you've come to visit,
I feel your vast depths and intensity,
But, as frightening as you are to me I really think
I'm ready for you this time.

You see, I've learned how to face you...
After all of these years,
To acknowledge you, to feel you completely.

I know the only way I can survive is if I embrace you,
Hold you close and let your intensity overwhelm me,
Because when you are through with me...
I will heal, and you...the pain...will be gone
And I will once again be happy.

Excerpted from Ravenous Reflections - Poetry from the Heart, by Jaie Hart