Recipe for Sanity Amidst Heartbreak
1 heartful of courageous hope
Multiple Hours of patience
Some hours of tender care (include your favorite friends)
Three sources of solid information (from authority in this case, from others with similar experience; from credible internet sites)
Prayer, added as needed
- Sift the heartful of courageous hope into the bowl of trouble, being sure to sift out as much fear of the unknown as possible.
- Allow the hope to set for whatever hours necessary in rooms that are temperature controlled to be warmed by love, but not overly warmed by those who arrive in curiosity.
- Mixing in patience oh so gently, to offset the anxiety that often tries to occur — sort of like lumps trying to form in gravy.
- Stir in the tender care whether it is in person or delivered as kind encouragement, text messages, flowers, or sandwiches.
- Spread a dusting over it all of nice quality information, being careful to cover the entire surface.
- The amount of this last ingredient will be balanced by the size of the heartbreak. Short-term heartbreaks can benefit from a few favorite prayers, while life-changing heartbreaks will require significantly more, maybe even the whole town contributing some of theirs.
Spoon into a dish that is large enough to handle the multiplying effect. Bake in the oven of life until sanity is stronger than the heartbreak.
by Nancy Ann Smith, Amherst, Ohio
June 27, 2020 Poetry Marathon