The Thinking Poet - Still A Tightness

Still A Tightness

Tightness still grips my abdomen
Just below my diaphragm,
A knot that has been gradually loosening
Over the past half hour, since we spoke last.
I have heard your footsteps several times
And felt the tension increase each time,
Not to the point of pain or nausea,
But to a rigidity that is ready,
Ready for something dangerous,
Something I have endured before
And would rather not endure again.
I will be okay, I tell myself,
But I am not yet OK,
Still thinking rapid thoughts
In the panic of readiness,
Still trying to figure out what has happened
And what will happen.
I will be OK, I tell myself,
Because there is no one else to tell,
But I am not OK yet.
I breathe in, 
As if I haven't breathed in too long,
And I probably haven't.
The tension is softening into sadness,
And I hear the rain, also soft,
Falling on the ground outside.

Reflection
1. Does this remind you of any experience of your own?
2. Describe a conflict with someone and the feelings it generated in you.
3. Is there a point when the tension softens into sadness? What do you do then?

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