Side Door

The Side Door

It was not cut and dry-no defining line –no before and after.

But slowly like soft rain filling a deep well…

This was a time to lick my wounds and bandage the bleeding.

I had to first assess the damage done.

I was capable of being alone… moreover–this is what I wanted.

My life was bursting at the seams with young children and life’s demands.

But there you were.

You must have slipped in through the side door.

You must have swept in with the warm, gentle breeze

that made it feel so nice to be here.

In the beginning, we hesitated,
unsure which versions of ourselves would emerge,
which would take center stage and which would retreat
until time coaxed them from their hiding places.

We learned that escape was not our first instinct,
as you warned me of the your battle scars,

how it had left you stranded on the other side of the fence.
My breath halted; I clenched my heart,
uncertain of what lay ahead.

Then you started the reveal
and suddenly my image of you blurred,
questions swirling—what did this mean for us?
Beneath the eucalyptus, I sensed your regret,
wondering if you had shared too much,
if boundaries had shifted.

I absorbed you quietly, letting your words dissolve,
aware that it wasn’t as dark as it seemed,
yet not as innocent as I had hoped.

You entered through that side door,
and I felt enveloped in a warm memory,
We slowed down time and sped it up- all at once,

and we began to observe our observations.

Enthralled by the possibility that another soul
could penetrate the layers…peeling away ever so.

A spaciousness where the unfolding was initiated.

Allowing time…

This time, I am diving in the deep end,
embracing the unknown,
acknowledging that our paths were meant to cross,
that in the deep mystery of the universe,
there is a design that may lead us home.