The Therapist’s Pledge

If you stay the course, we will navigate

a voyage into your unknown.

I will help you to die and gather

the ashes of your many selves,

I will wrap with lace, the corpse of your accuser–

who decreed you worth less than a stain.

I will lay faith’s red thread

for you to grasp, as you lower yourself

into the pacific trench of your past,

sift through its drifts of shell and bone.

There you will find the one you banished

still famished and clinging.

I will coax you to breathe life

back into her and ignite her spark.

I will watch you both leap triumphant

as sting rays, flashing in sunlight.

How I will cheer, as you realise

this bright air is yours.