from branch to root.

we first awaken to a branch.
a fragile thought.
a piercing image.
an aching heart.

a branch that feels
like a breaking limb.
barely holding on.
softly longing to be seen.

it carries the weight
of all we've tried not to feel.

a shadow of suffering.
a symptom of something deeper.
something still unresolved.

but to go deeper
is to risk more hurt.
to open wider.
to touch the places
we've spent years
learning not to feel.

and still.
something inside us whispers.
go.
follow the branches.
explore the trunk.
trace the roots.

because somewhere within,
we know ignoring that call,
turning from
the heart's quiet yearning
to understand itself
only delays what longs to heal.

trace the roots.

we build walls
and mistake them for progress.
disguise wounds
with fleeting relief.
numb truth
with illusion.

we deceive ourselves.
we call it moving on.
we call it strength.

this delay of hurt.
this postponement of pain.
a kind of blissful ignorance.

but the pain we bury
always finds its way back.
in thoughts.
in habits.
in reactions.
in relationships.
in the quiet hours
when nothing distracts.
so often ignored.
so often dismissed.

but if we choose
to answer the call.
however painful.
however hard.

to follow the branch
to trunk.
to root.
and hold a light
toward what aches.
then gently,
bravely,
illuminate what's lived in shadow,
what we once left in darkness.
we find not just pain.
but wholeness.

the very thing
we've been searching for
all along.
without even knowing it.