The day began
With my stepping outside
With my dog.
It was humid.
For once I asked,
“Do I really need to run?”
My legs were so stiff
From the long run
The day before.
But I thought,
“I did not run my
Personal best marathon
In Philly in 2014
By not running.
I did not finish the
Comrades Marathon
In South Africa
By not running.
I did not make
Friendships
By not running.”
So, on the other side
Of doubt, I found
Hope and persistence
And completion.
The day ended
With an amazing
Cloud formation.
There was an opening
That looked like
An invitation to find out
What was on the
Other side.
Just that morning,
I’d found the
Other side of doubt.
I thought about the
Emily Dickinson poem
I once read that included
“Parting is all we know of
heaven
And all we need of hell.”
And I thought about seeing
That in a dear friend’s
Reaction to a recent passing.
And now I was thinking
Of all the ways in life
That a person could be on one
side.
Thinking of what might be
On the other side.
Some choosing to go.
Some not.
Some choosing to find out.
Some not.
And unlike Emily Dickinson’s
Parting forever,
Going to the other side
While still on Earth
Opens up new possibilities
As one can always return
With new stories,
New ideas,
New
ways to be.
