when we meet {a poem}

When we meet
on ordinary days
in ordinary ways
Will you see it
beyond the surface
of what is normal
into the depths
of fire and brimstone and fierce determination
of white light and gentle healing and a huge loving heart

will you embrace
or turn away

beckoned forth
by what is pure, and white, and light
the promise of a cleansing
an illumination
a surrender to what is real

or will you
be frightened beyond words
by what seems different and deeply unsettlingly real

will you seek to run
to clothe yourself
in the not knowing
in a false sense of safe
superior
smirking in the face of raw authenticy
yet withering to death
regrets

once awakened
a soul cannot go back to sleep
shine it does
beyond the grime and dirt and shattered dreams
calling forth
a pulling
to that what lies within
you

a recognition
a wavering
on the threshold of change
and remember
it will always be
you who decides
to shun the invitation
or to step forth
into breathtaking beauty
a shedding of old skin and stories and wounds
a remembrance
of what truly is
who you truly are
light

_{First published March 7, 2016 (on Facebook). Copyright Kathleen Saelens.}