all too often
we try to rise
to push through
to move and grow
when the essence
of us is unready

even when rising is
real and true and right

even when rising is
the exact thing we most need

even when rising is
the answer to our
yearning and aching and
creative expanding

if our rising is
unrooted
unnourished
untethered in
resilience

we will rise like
blazing comets, leaving
trails of ourselves
in descending arcs as we
tumble back down

nourish first
rise next
this is the way
to rise and persist