I don’t think
we know the way
back to Normal.
I’ve been told
to keep my eyes ahead
and that the strange,
the unusual,
and the unfathomable,
lurking over each
of dawn’s new horizons
will one day be “Normal”.
I’d be lying
if I said
that this comforts me.
I wish for the love
and the care of the known.
The mother’s smile,
lover’s embrace,
a safe circle of friends;
are these not things
worth going back to?
There it is.
The problem in the mind.
We think that life
is static in our absence,
but life goes on.
Only the dead are motionless,
so, going back
is not an option for them either.
I wake,
shower and dress.
Exercise most mornings
and some evenings.
Try not to fade
under the gaze of consequence
and challenge.
When I look back,
all I see is a void,
but beside me,
my wife,
my love,
my everything.
To my other side,
good friends
who fear no war.
Above me,
my God in His Heaven.
So, I can step
into the new unknown again.
There won’t be any
“Getting back to normal.”
There is nothing left for us
that way.
HG – 2019
