The Battlefield of Healing and Other Poems

by Sarah Steele

THE BATTLEFIELD OF HEALING

Healed is not perfection.

Healed is not completion.

Healed is not never

warring in your mind or

wavering in belief or

struggling to stand strong

in your newly adopted way of peace.

Healed is recognizing darkness

and picking up your weapons

to fight.

HAPPY SAD

I’m smiling more.

It’s not fake,

but I’m also not

happy,

exactly.

My husband is encouraged

that healing is happening,

until I mention that I

still cry

every day,

and he is alarmed.

But I am not.

I don’t feel depressed.

Every tear is expelling

some pain

or sorrow,

like taking the

World’s Longest Shower—

I am becoming

clean.

SARAH STEELE

Sarah is a poet and lifelong teacher. These days, that looks like leading her four lively redheads in their Michigan homeschool and engaging with students of all ages in poetry workshops, watercolor classes, nature study, and neighborhood book clubs. She thrives on community that goes deep and is grounded on biblical truths. You can find Sarah’s poems in The Fallow House, Calla Press, and The Way Back to Ourselves, where she is one of the editors. She has published two alphabet books with her illustrator husband (yes, also a redhead) and is preparing to publish a poetry memoir about boundary-less living, codependency, debilitating anxiety, and the life-changing effect of a gentle counselor. You can follow her work by subscribing to her website at bysarahsteele.com.
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