Finding Ground in the Ache

On Survival, Soft Ground, and the Ache That Remains

In those moments—
you know the ones—
the ones where you need safe ground,

yet there are no recent memories,
no childhood memories.
You’ve been the one.

Survival mode has been your pattern,
your posture,
your only breath.
Your heartbeat
has been your compass.

You’ve listened intently to words,
always comparing them to actions,
comparing energy to narrative,
measuring life
breath by breath.

And still,
something stretches.

Not quite thought,
not quite knowing—
more like a yawn
wanting more space,
not yet knowing
that a yawn simply is.

And perhaps that is where it turns:

what if, somehow,
sometimes,
meaning, growth, seeking
get in the way
of the aching?

What if the ache
does not need shaping yet,
not lesson,
not beauty,
not becoming—

only room?

A. J. Ashé
Being Human