From the Outside Looking In

From the Outside Looking In

From the outside
looking in
the perspective is different
from the inside looking out.
Inside, we are wife and friend.
We have our rules,
our jobs we do: we know our place --
where we fit into the scheme
of things.
Until we don't. Until our
carefully arranged world implodes
and everything is out of kilter,
the balance is skewed
and we cannot find
our equilibrium.
Used to being part of an entity,
we now are the all of us
and it is so difficult
to be whole when half
is missing.

We fall apart and the pieces scatter
to the fractious winds of chance.
The puzzle of us becomes an enigma
where we can't see the rules
and there are no edge pieces to fit together.

And yet. And yet from
the outside looking in,
we see the strength that
keeps you upright, the grace
that keeps you determined
to take steps forward.
Because we see the 'what was'
and know that the 'all' of that
is still within you.
Former personas will fall away
as you shed, piece by piece,
the old you and slowly, slowly,
become someone new.

All the joy, the good times
(and bad) of the past will sustain you
as you wend your way through the
fogs of now into a clarity that is coming.
When? No one knows because we are
all different. But, it will come--
and once more you will shine and dazzle
simply because everything you need
is already inside just waiting to burst forth.
We see the pinpricks peeking out.
Why? Because you are too bright a star
to be darkened.

From the outside looking in
we see the possibilities of you
because our perspective
isn't yet shadowed by your grief.
You will, at some point, power through
that (what now likely seems)
impenetrable wall. Reaching for that sun,
that light, you will emerge
and yes, you will bloom anew.
Not separate from the once was,
but because of it. There is still
much wind beneath those wings you have.
The storms will ease and you will soar.

One day the perspectives will meld.
New roles will emerge.
These, these are the caterpillar days.
Be safe in your cocoon for now.
When the time comes, and it will,
shake it off and stretch those
new splendid wings ...
and fly.