...And this too shall pass

It was an unbearable year

before you came into our life

when I made the most critical

of all decisions

I threw away the rice bowl

that nurtured us for a while

for the vessel had been defiled

and the contents had turned putrid

and threatened our existence

 

Thinking I could find another

I treaded home

only to find many others

had no rice bowls

or just empty ones

and struggling to fill them

 

I was dejected

 

Down at the bottom looking up

the sky was unreachable

and footholds were worn

and slippery

 

until a friend lent a hand

 

Down at the bottom

I had nowhere else to go

the only way to go was up

but I realized too

that this too shall pass