Stay until the wave goes out

There’s a minute when the feeling is the whole world. Grief. Panic. Rage. A drop so sudden you cannot see the boat on the horizon. That minute is a liar about time.

Stay. Not forever. Through this wave. Feet. Breath. A hand on something solid — a rock, a table, your own other hand.

The pool in the rock holds the sky and then lets it change. You can hold a feeling without becoming it. That’s a kind of strength nobody claps for, and it’s real.

If the wave is a wish to be gone, stay by calling someone. Help first. The article second. We mean that.