Black Dress

That the same
Black dress

Can be worn

To an art show
Or a funeral

Confuses me

That one person

Can be headed
Out the door
For work

While another

Is headed
To the hospital
To say final goodbyes

That this

Is how
Life works

Is sometimes

Just a little
Too much

Open To New

Life
Doesn’t ask us
For permission
To change

It just changes

Over time
Over night

And though

We are comfortable
With what is familiar

Life demands

That we stay open
To new
 
Open to new
When all we want
Is the old
 
Open to new
When what’s ahead
Is unknown

And though I do not want new

I need to remember

I have done this
Before
 
If I wasn’t open to new
I wouldn’t have tried Zumba
And found the wonderful tribe
That comes with it

If I wasn’t open to new

I wouldn’t have spiralized a zucchini
And learned fun new ways
To eat well

If I wasn’t open to new

I wouldn’t have moved to a small town
And learned how at home
I could feel

If I wasn’t open to new

I would have missed out

On the next steps
That have led
Straight into the richest
Parts of my life

So though it hurts

I will
Stay open
To new

And I will

Become new
As well

Strength All Our Own

Early on
We rely
On others
To show us
The way

Depend on them

To tell us

Who we are
And what
We are
Good at

To hold up

A mirror
To our lives
So we can see
What we otherwise
Couldn’t

And one day

We notice
Those others
Aren’t there

Maybe haven’t been

For a while

And we wonder

 
Who we are

What we are good at

And if we are enough

We wonder
Can we
Go on
Without them

We wonder

When did they
Even leave

And it hits us

We’ve been walking
In our own strength
The whole time
 
Strength that while built
In the company
Of others

Has become

A strength

All our own