Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight.
The
light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laborsome events of will.
Weariness
invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.
The
tide you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.
You
have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken in the race of days.
At
first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.
You
have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take
refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become
inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate
the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw
alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay
clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually,
you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
