Peace of Mind

written by Felicia York
inspired by Nefertiti N.

Writer's Note: I was going to post something else but then I read Nef's poem and this is what I came up with. Written on the spot...

In the depths of her mind, she searched. Turning over thoughts, cleaning out memories, storing facts, throwing away novelty items she learned on the back of Snapple caps. What she sought still escaped her like the pot of gold at the end of rainbows or the question when someone asks you if you have one. The demons chased her constantly in her search. The things she could not find a place for in the storage bins of her cerebellum. They followed her everywhere she went. Ruthless in their pursuit, they taunted and teased. They were unruly children who never cleaned their room. They were messy roommates who ate all the groceries she bought. Nutritious things like patience, optimism, hope and perserverance. She called them stress. Their nickname was worry and in the evening when all was quiet, they acted as bad neighbors blasting their music at 3am. Waking her. Nudging her from her sleep, they were not satiated until she gave up. She was frazzled. Her nerves on edge and still, she searched until she was exhausted. Her body, her health depended it on it. She would not be able to relax until she found it.

She would have to face them head on, look them in the eye and take a stand. She would have to confront the beast, a young David ready to slay Goliath. A warrior in her own right, she would have to see the forest for the trees, put in elbow grease and a whole host of other metaphors. She was ready. She would fight to the death. There were no magic beans, no potion she could drink, no prince or knight. There was just one woman with her sword drawn, ready to take no prisoners, trying to find her peace of mind.