It doesn't happen all at once. It happens instantaneously.
It takes and leaves everything. When love comes,
the storylines dissolve: no longer you against the odds
or your worth drowning in undercurrent voices that you thought
birthed you. The false bottom drops out and you fall right through
what you thought essential to your survival but what,
over time, turned to paper scaffolding. Now you can stand upright
in the naked blue of the morning, your legs sore but strong,
your arms wide and alive. You are you, and who that is
pours like wind across a sky turning with goldfinch
and time. Your heart beats. The blue heron lands
on the water you can't always see from here.
No need to hide or twist your good name into
someone else's small room. No need to do anything
but stand here, your feet telling the earth you've arrived,
the earth telling your body you've always been here
at home, healing and healed, beloved.