what is possible? – a poem

as the sea threatens

to take me away again,

my first thought is

“i didn’t ask for this.”

as the waters grow deeper,

i have to remember

that none of this is my fault,

that the disease

which ravages my

internal world is not

something i asked for,

nor is it something that

i can control.

much like the waters

which threaten to overtake me,

there is no way

i will know the path

that my disease,

the shadowy spectre

of multiple sclerosis,

takes me on.

all i can do

is take each step

one at a time

so that I can scale

each mountain that

blocks my path

and keep my head

above the waters

that threaten to

swallow me completely.

as I walk along

each mountain, each cliff edge,

i let go of the sea

within myself

so that it cascades

down the rockface

like a waterfall,

stretching its fingers

behind me, even as I

walk forwards

towards what

is possible.