the shift {a poem}

Have you felt it?
 That deep pull
 to go explore
 to follow the unknown
 into
 who knows?

If you have forgotten who you are
 believed
 the fairytales were true
 about dark suits
 and sharp lines
 and tall tall rising buildings
 and endless chatter
 and mindless work talk vacant stares
 and a wide gaping emptiness where you thought
 you'd find meaning
 and yourself

Past the labels
 like Alice
 all the signs
 and a feeling of
 being lost 
utterly completely
 with no one there 
to come find you

Know that we are here.
 We've gone before you.
 We surround you with love
 compassion 
hope.

Follow the light.

It's there
in a smile
a book
a lonely feather
blown about on the empty street.

And above all
it's there
in the gaze
of the person
that stares back at you
from the mirror. 

_{First published October 27, 2015 (on Facebook). Copyright Kathleen Saelens.}