Pause, not gone

I set it down upon the shelf

Not 'cause it’s done — I need myself.

My hands today are full of me

The quiet tasks that set me free.

A song plays loud to fill the air

While I breathe deep without a care 

Not forgetting. Love won’t fade

When folded neat and tucked away.

The chaos waits, it will not flee

Like roots beneath the oldest tree.

Like tides that always find their way

What’s real will keep till I’m okay.

So here I clear what’s dead and brown

To still my head, to calm me down.

Not erasing — making room

For me to breathe, for me to bloom.

I’m the queen of here, though unaware

Still shining in the open air.

I find my strength in simple things

In every breath the morning brings.

When I return — and I’ll return 

The truth will still be there, still burn.

No true thing’s lost inside a pause.

I’m just obeying nature’s laws.

I set it down to lift me high

To clear the tears from weary eyes.

I press pause so I move on.

Nothing real is ever gone.