Some people just can't be fixed

From O Pioneers! by Willa Cather published 1913:

My sorrow is not a verdict,

just a wave I have to bear.

It rises, falls, and breaks apart,

but still, I learn to care.

With every breath, my beating heart

is choosing one more day.

I do not need to feel like hope

It hits all at once—

like a wave crashing in every direction,

too many battles, too many shadows,

and I’m standing in the middle,

trying not to drown.

My mind races,

trying to catch every falling piece—

but it’s a storm,

and no hands can hold it all.

So I break it down—

one moment, one fight, one breath,

because if I stare too long at the whole,

it swallows me alive.

It’s too much.

Sometimes it feels like it will never end.

But I know—deep down—

storms don’t last forever.

I keep telling myself—

don’t look at the mountain,

just at the next step,

one day, one hour, one breath at a time.

I am tired,

but I am still moving.

I am scared,

but I am still here.

This moment is hard.

But I will carry it through—

slowly,

carefully,

until the sky clears again.