Chris Rathburn

Scars are built to last
Some things you don't get over
The marks left behind
A permanent reminder
That's up to you to carry

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Practice my breathing
Don't should all over myself
Use my I statements
Develop my love language
Take my pills, talk with my shrink

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Echoes keep fading
The way a bell left ringing
Will get quieter
Until there's no way to tell
If it's ringing or you are

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Make up a version
Of how things are meant to be
And then get worried
Because the world doesn't match
The nonsense I just dreamed up

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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There is this stillness
That was never there before
I used to pretend
That freezing up in panic
Was more or less the same thing

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Learning to be still
So that the mud can settle
And the waters clear
In ways that they never could
When I was splashing around

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Bit by little bit
The fellow at the crossroads
Stops being scary
And starts to look like the friend
They were always meant to be

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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The twittering bird
Will always have songs to sing
And that is okay
They don't bother me as much
And sometimes I sing along

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Still get stuck thinking
Even after all this time
About missed moments
Ghosts of times we didn't have
That I'll always wish we did

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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I had to let go
Of what I thought I needed
To live a good life
To make space so I could grow
Into a life that fits me

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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It's nice that it fades
Heartache can last a long time
But not forever
And once the worst is finished
New connections start to grow

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Sitting jittery
Just as still as a rabbit
With the scent of fox
In their twitchy little nose
Waiting for the air to clear

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
#poetry #tanka #writing #WritingCommunity #mentalhealth #depression #anxiety #sicknotweak

:) Thanks! :)

The twittering bird
Is still fluttering about
Chirping that I'm doomed
But I mostly ignore it
And everything turns out fine

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Old paths grow over
And that used to be scary
Like I would be lost
Without the structure they gave
Before I knew my own way

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Over and over
Anxious thoughts echo inside
Always insisting
They will go once I calm down
But they're what's got me wound up

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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It took a long time
Something finally shifted
It's not so scary
To be alive anymore
And I am feeling alright

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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All these old habits
That I know are bad for me
Beckoning gently
Welcoming and familiar
Trying not to lose their home

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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All these old habits
That I know are bad for me
Beckoning gently
Welcoming and familiar
Trying not to lose their home

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
#poetry #tanka #writing #WritingCommunity #mentalhealth #depression #anxiety #sicknotweak

Try to shake the funk
It's mostly out of habit
Like I can't function
Without some baseline distress
Haunting the back of my mind

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Something shifts inside
And suddenly these old aches
Begin to make sense
In ways they didn't before
And feel a little better

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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With time it came clear
That real damage had been done
And hidden away
Behind blinds of quiet smiles
Like dancing to hide a limp

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Sooner or later
We lose everything we have
So it's important
Not to hold on too tightly
To these precious, fleeting things

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Back to the routine
It was good to step away
And get perspective
On what's really important
And what are just bad habits

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Catch myself acting
Like it's how it used to be
Before deciding
That it was time for a change
And give myself room to grow

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Setting them aside
Little things that feel like me
Accumulated
Until they got so heavy
That I got lost beneath them

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Beginning again
Knowing this anxiety
Better than before
Feeling lost with every step
I've never been without it

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Lost all momentum
It isn't as bad as it seemed
To just take some time
To answer my own question
What does going forward mean

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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Learning just to sit
And accept things as they are
Instead of trying
To make everything just so
And never have time to sit

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
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I'm not sad just tired
I know you're working things out
And it's not easy
And I will be here for you
It just gets stressful sometimes

Words: Mine
Image: AI generated
#poetry #tanka #writing #WritingCommunity #mentalhealth #depression #anxiety #sicknotweak