Sun and Shade

If you’re a poet,
you know how high excitement can reach,
also the depths
to which despondency can dive:

a ride of pride, then the sudden slide from peaks of joy
to profound despair;
from weeping and lack of sleep
to relentless fear;

and, finally, to new understanding,
restored control,
and to what (for lack of words)
is called wisdom.

Think of bears and frogs
that sleep through winter without eating,
then spend the next summer
breeding.

You hope they experience elation
and you may be right.
We know mating birds preen often
and dance.

So, shrug off doldrums and doubt,
revive your song
as birds do all summer long.
Take a break and breathe.

Trust your body to take care of its needs.
A muse is strong
and can overcome most conditions.