by Melinda Haas
After You Stop
When you make the choice to stop trying, another part of you dies.
When you make the choice to stop trying, something deep within you sighs relief.
When your womb is forever empty, you want to rip it from your body.
When your womb is forever empty, gentleness must become a way of living.
When your attempts fail, nothing else seems to matter.
When your attempts fail, everything else matters a little bit more.
When you are alone in your yearning, you are an island of resentment, sadness and rage.
When you are alone in your yearning, you are a rock.
When surrounded by noise you didn’t create, hands cover ears, eyes squeeze tight, lips seal with a scream inside your chest.
When surrounded by noise you didn’t create, you must create your own safe places.
When your arms are empty, they’ve never felt so heavy.
When your arms are empty, there’s never been this much opportunity.
When you make the choice to stop trying, another part of you dies.
When you make the choice to stop trying, something deep within you sighs relief.
February 9, 2022 at 7:33 AM
Hi Melinda, please don’t drop me off the list, I love your writing!
Keep up the great work!
Sally West
Sent from my iPhone
February 9, 2022 at 8:37 AM
Thank you! I appreciate it!
February 9, 2022 at 4:18 PM
Absolutely amazing! Thank you Lou for sharing your talent with us. Very poignant indeed. Keep’em comin’!
February 9, 2022 at 6:59 PM
Thank you Aaron!!!! I appreciate the love and support. Love, Lou
February 9, 2022 at 7:27 PM
😊
February 9, 2022 at 7:30 PM
<3
February 10, 2022 at 7:41 AM
❤️
February 10, 2022 at 3:08 PM
It’s amazing how all of these opposites are so true.
February 11, 2022 at 2:13 PM
They all feel 100% true, 100% of the time. I agree, it’s amazing!
June 30, 2023 at 5:12 AM
Melinda. I just read this for the first time. It somehow went into my spam folder. Your choice of words poignantly captured and expressed a sentiment that, although I cannot relate to exactly what you experience, expresses a fully human experience for those open to understanding what that experience feels like. And, as all great authors do, you described how others feel about something in their lives that is not the same but creates a similar emotional response. Voids can be created by many different things, but feeling a void is a shared experience. I love how you’ve captured that essence. I’m moved by your honesty and humility. So grateful that I know you as family. Love you dearly.