rest

When rest comes knocking,

let her in.

Choose not

the list

of very good reasons

why rest should wait.

Choose not

the chatter from others

of what you should

be doing instead.

Rest doesn't like

when you should

on yourself.

Don't mistake rest

for unconscious slumber

or zoned out distraction.

She's a willful practice

of embodied presence.

Requiring relationship

and sweet attention.

Rest will not bark

until she is

bone-deep tired.

Her sweetness

will sour,

becoming snotty

and pained.

And if you've waited too long,

her bark may become

chronic and destabilizing.

So, when rest

comes knocking,

let her in.

Welcome her

as the gift she is.

A respite,

a reset,

a chance to recalibrate.

She's a noticed breath,

a meditation,

a dance, and a pose.

She's the flavor on your tongue

and the smell in your nose.

She's the flow of the surf,

the trance of a hike,

and the vibration of the

soil between your little toes.

Rest is a "no"

when the grind

demands yeses.

So...

when rest comes knocking,

let her in.

BDU, 6/5/24

Photo by Simon Wilkes