My heart and psyche
after too many years
of discontent,when
my way was as lost
as a specter in the house
where it died.
There is no stability
in this life, no safety net.
But there is the long slow
back rub of time to heal
the broken parts, smooth
over the scars, and newborn
empathy for the woman
who almost didn’t make it.

*

In response to Dorianne Laux’s “What’s Broken”.