The Moments Between by Amanda McLeod

      Ernesto De Quesada CC


​The Moments Between

We hold each other up 
in the darkness
when it threatens to collapse 
on us, an endless ocean pressing 
against the hull 
of a foundering submarine,
earth hovering in Atlas’s impossibly 
strong arms.

We spin across our 
universe as forces known but 
invisible pull us a hundred ways 
at once and we can do 
nothing but wave helplessly 
as we pass beyond each other's 
orbits, knowing our celestial 
paths will cross again soon 
in the frenzy of daily life.

Our days seem constructed of tension 
and hustle but there are pockets 
of stillness that sit 
in the moments between,
and when we are careful 
and quiet, these moments 
raise tiny heads and peek out 
from between breakfast eaten 
standing up and a thousand 
unread emails and demands 
of be here, now, but also there,
ten minutes ago.

If we give them time 
and space to breathe and be, 
nourish them and speak of their 
importance,
they will grow and spread, 
maple seeds fluttering through our
turbulent days
and we will have more 
of these moments 
between everything else 
to regard each other's preciousness,
and draw the strength we need 
to play Atlas to each other 
in the dark hours.

Amanda McLeod is an Australian creative. This is her first work in poetry. She enjoys rain, quiet, and wild places. Find her on Twitter @AmandaMWrites

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