The great winnowing of possessions

Releasing the unnecessary

Shredding the past

Carefully boxing up the essential

Giving, giving, giving

Each load that goes

A bit more freedom gained

The road calls strongly

“Are you coming?

Are you on the way?”

Well, I’m going somewhere

Similar to a place I’ve been

Time adjacent

The stream has run the long course

The years have changed me

I will step into the water

Remembering the stream that was

And the young woman who grew there

I bring the world with me

All that I’ve seen since then

Molded by travel and children and joy

Reduced by loss and loneliness and pain

A life changing movement

A life changing moment

A new start

A fresh beginning

“I can be flexible”

I said

And made it so

“I don’t have the confidence for this”

I confided

And yet it arrived with that acknowledgement

Not the brash bravado I used to wear

A committed determination

All I can ask of myself today

Is to show up for this life

To risk, and to try

I am not alone in this

I am loved

I am loved truly and fiercely

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do”

There is room for me

In this world

That for so long I felt

Held no space for me

I will step into the water

And let it cool my feet

From the heat of travel

And rest a moment

As the sun filters down through the trees