Lifting the clouds

for Flora Kiebert--

If I could whisper into your ear

I would hardly know where to start

I'd say I don't know how or why

but I understand your sadness

I'd ask about your existential crisis moments

so we could compare

I'd thank you for your humor

and the compassion

if only it could have soothed the anxiety

or lessened other symptoms you faced

If I could send whispers to your 

heart and mind

which created a salve that 

could erase that unique suffering

I would do so in an instant

I would wipe away your worries

I would soften all that prematurely 

hardened you

so you could live in a softer, more gentle 

and protected existence

all the shame and mystery around

mental illness would lift

like clouds that have somewhere else to be

I would see all the limitations that shackled you

silently

and use my private powers 

to set you fully free