What it all comes down to
is learning to let go.
Just when you begin
to get comfortable, along comes
another heart-wrenching goodbye.
Being forced to release
my tenuous hold
on one I love and withstand
an uprooting storm
of impending separation,
I find myself trying to fill a hollow
that cannot be satisfied.
Often, even with the heavens
blue to the horizon,
I hear the distant thunderclaps
of squalls to come.
Pushed to delve deeper
into my practice,
into what it means to carry on,
I slowly begin to feel
a little lighter, the band
around my heart a little looser,
my breath a bit easier.
In a way, we are all preparing
to depart,
each of us under the same sky
raining unstoppable change.