Within Our Reach

You stand before me,
a rock in the wake of a landslide.
Not moving, not bulging,
despite all odds.

Warm hands hold mine;
Steady, Calm.
Wrap me up,
safe.

Look at me with your eyes,
those honest eyes.
Those eyes that see right through me...

through my clothes,
through my guise,
right to my core.
You see me.

A little voice, my old friend
whispers in my ear.
Whispers words of wisdom, of doubt,
of reality and years of experience.

Words of my mother, my sisters...
Words of wariness,
Of warning,
But those eyes...

That look,
That piercing and honest gaze.
That look is louder than words and silences the voice,
my old friend.

That look sends my friend back
to the depths of my mind,
too deep to reach,
where I', sure it will wait in hibernation.

In its place,
a stranger-
A friend of your eyes
offers its hand.

Initial concern,
perhaps even uncertainty.
But that look,
Those eyes.

I take the hand
and at once feel a weight off my shoulders.
Like the Spring at the end of the Winter that was my life,
my old life.

A new breath, a fresh breath;
Honey, sweet, sticky.
My nostrils are filled with the smells of freshly cut grass
and ears are filled with the sound of laughter.

Years and years of laughter,
waiting just beyond my reach.
But maybe, just maybe
Within our reach.