Burden

Physical ailment collides with emotional turmoil.
Inner defenses fail, outward aggression manifests.
Now is not the time.
Fury follows fury, an inferno inside,
All while losing my voice.
So much to say without a way to say it,
Or knowing which way is right.
A way to vent, take out the anger,
In a contest of skill and will.
Yet it too is ruined and abandoned.
Simmering, smoldering, I have to start singing.
Steel the nerves and calm the heart.
A comfort is found in the sounds of songs,
And the applause of an appreciative audience.
At last I crumple.
The morn brings a reprieve,
A respite from the winds of fortune.
This is a day to enjoy.
Hiding from the world in a small room,
Around a large table.
Surrounded by those who matter most,
Walled in from the assault,
Though nothing can prevent the exhaustion.
Thus begins another week, another chance to get things right.
I stretch my weary shoulders and put on the old yoke,
The one I wanted to handle.