Sunken Ships And Moonflowers Poem by Nika McGuin

I've always thought
that I navigate my emotions well -
better than most, at least.
But the absence of tears
does not equal emotional well-being.

Instead, I'm like the captain of the Titanic
cruising blindly into a giant iceberg
all the while murmuring:
everything's fine...
everything's fine...

But it's on cold days like this one
- when the iceberg hits, that I realize
my emotions aren't well managed - but subdued!
deep in the cold waters of the Atlantic.
This ship has already sunken.
Ship and crew, drowned by my own unending optimism.

Every morning I'd rise,
shaking off any negative emotions
like specks of dust from my shoulder
as if they were remnants
of some nightmarish dream.

I would be staring at the sun
'til the point of blindness,
always trying so hard
to ignore my inner darkness.
But like moonflowers, it grows well
in the thick shade of my denial.