Friday, June 8, 2018

Pressure

Pressure
  is
    one small clog
      in
        just
          the wrong place

Pressure
  is
    the unbearable
      ache
    the knowing
      that something
        must
          give

Pressure
  is
    the feeling
      that you
        must
          sneeze
    ah-
      ah-
        ah-
    and never
      a
        choo

Pressure
  is
    a full schedule
      and one more thing
        to do

Pressure
  is
    sudden
      responsibility
        and no one
          to teach you

Pressure
  is
    perfectionism
      without
        prioritization

Pressure
  is
    the fear
      that no one
        could
          love
            inadequate
              weak
                sick
                  incomplete
                    you

Pressure
  is
    the whine
      of a tea kettle
        when you
          must
            take
              it
                off
                  the heat
                    now

Pressure
  is
    how
      a volcano
        erupts

Pressure
  is
    what
      kills
        an astronaut
          from within
        and a diver
          from without

Pressure
  is
    how
      to cook
        much
          faster
        than seems
          quite
            possible

Pressure
  is
    how
      coal
        becomes
          a diamond

Pressure
  is
    how
      we fill
        our lungs
          with air

Pressure
  is
    how
      we
        slurp up
          water

Pressure
  is
    how
      we swallow
        our food

Pressure
  is
    how
      we
        massage away
          our worries

Pressure
  is
    how
      we
        wrap
          our loved ones
            in our arms

Pressure
  is
    how
      tires
        become
          strong
        and carry us
          where we
            need
              to be

Pressure
  is
    the
      force
        of our hopes

Pressure
  is
    the gap
      between
        our longing
          and
            reality

Too much
  and
    we
      burst

Too little
  and
    we cannot
      move