Inspiration
Loneliness
began as a child
when she would place
with the utmost care
toy upon toy
on top of her small body
until she was covered
with the solitary sound
of her own breathing
certain that this
would shield her
from the wrath
of a human touch
that would first
wrap around her ankles
and then pull her down
into the watery deep
of haunting deceit
the forbidden country
where silence reigns
and innocence drowns
in salty tears and foamy sheets.
Then, as a woman
She would place
with the utmost care
book upon book
on top of her life
until she was covered
with a multitude of voices
certain that this
would shield her
from the warmth
of a human touch
that would first
wrap around her heart
and then pull her down
into the watery deep
of intoxicating heat
the borderless country
where love reigns
and exhalations
rise like sweet-smelling
clouds to the ceiling.
But her child
barely a year old
pressed against her chest
like life itself
with all its fragile hope
inspires her
to swim
toward her true voice
stranded somewhere
on the babbling sea
of her own fear.
Patricia Cannon has been a Registered Nurse at UCSF since 2001. She has worked in cardiac critical care, neurointensive care, hemeoncology, school nursing, and currently, in research. Her passion is her faith, photography, and the written word in all its forms. “Inspiration” has been published on the Viewless Wings podcast by James Morehead, Beyond Words literary magazine edited by Gal Slonim, and in the “Wholeness” a Wising Up Anthology edited by Heather Tosteson and Charles D. Brockett