The Gist Of Matters Poem by Melody McKinstrie

It is hard being emotional
Having them swell
And hit with the force
Of a huge wave
Or the shake one encounters
With an earthquake of
A great magnitude.

Sometimes I want to
Crawl and hide
Curl up in a ball
That old fetal position
That folks show
In music videos.

I know it will pass
As I take one breath
And then another
That is the gist of
Getting through
To the next moment.

Once upon a time
Believe it or not
I was such a stoic
Something my parents
Taught and tried
To bestow
As they dealt
With health
And other crisis'

Somewhere along the line
It was like a dam burst
Emotions came through
At times a flood
Other times much more
Reasonable in their flow.
But still continuous.

I know some folks
Would tell me to
Chill out and relax.
I get that might be
A good way to be
And act.
But it is easy to say.
Easy for them.
They do not inhabit
My head
To which I could laugh.
And that would seem
Like madness.
Proving what they
May have suspected.

I won't finish that thought
They can do with their own.
They can judge
As is their wont
But they are not in my skin
And therein lies
Another gist
That matters.