The Trough

There is a trough in waves,
a low spot where horizon disappears
and only sky and water are our company.

And there we lose our way
unless we rest,
knowing the wave will bring us to its crest again.

There we may drown
if we let fear hold us in its grip
and shake us side to side,
and leave us flailing, torn, disoriented.

But if we rest there in the trough,
in silence,
being in the low part of the wave,
keeping our energy and
noticing the shape of things,
the flow,

then time alone will bring us to another place
where we can see horizon,
see land again,
regain our sense of where we are,
and where we need to swim.

Judy Brown