what is this weight that you carry,

head drooped, shoulders bent

with the effort of it all?

 

before you stumble,

fall exhausted from the

strain—stop

consider, please.

 

surely, at least a portion

of what you’ve gathered

is not your burden indeed.

 

you have the option

the necessity even,

to lay down your bundle

to pick-and-choose

before you one step

further take.

 

to consider:

am i weighed down by a problem

that is not mine to solve?

 

if so, then lay it down…

 

is it worth the effort

required to keep walking

with this particular pressure?

 

perhaps it is time to let it go…

 

is it within my power, do i have the ability

to change this?

 

if not, then throw it up into the wind

like a dandelion gone to seed….

 

and watch it

     b

           l

                o

                       w

away.

 

            –freed

Heather Pound 2024

Photo by Marek Szturc on Unsplash