Egress: Letting Go of Steam

Rage, rage, rage!
And, what to do?
I let it burn through,
Until the insight came,

This rage isn’t mine,
It’s the rage of the world,
The unending storm
In which we all have a share

And, all at once,
I let go
And watched it simmer,
Observed it seethe and quiver,

Then it writhed and hissed,
Flared and thundered,
Roared and flashed,
Pummeled and rasped;

But patiently
I let it rush past,
Sitting silently and still
Until this fury had had its fill;

Muscle spasms in the chest
Followed this great tempest,
Perhaps knotted up in sympathy
From this cataclysm at sea,

As if some monster of the deep,
Up from the bottom did creep
Caught me unawares
And wrapped around my boat

But twas sturdy enough
To stay afloat until the confused beast
Let go and left in haste,
Perhaps seeking some other prey
More digestible than my craft.