A Poem for You

Parachute

by Jena Schwartz

I found myself wondering

how best to thank you

for picking up

for dropping out

for pulling it out of me

for playlists and secret notebooks

of words you pluck as if from strings

in the sky

chords you strike and covers you lift

for risking failure

in the name of truth

knowing truth wears many faces

for going the distance

for closing the gap

for a downpour of laughter

just when I thought the sky

would surely collapse

under its own weight

for running towards

and not away from

for saying yes

that aches

but tell me

tell me anyway

tell me everything

for slow hands and fast cars

for finding me

after I found myself

not a moment too soon or too late

or too anything

for meeting me here

in this tumbling empty space

and tolerating my free fall

They say the bad news is that we're falling

and the good news is that there's no ground

I say the good news is we're falling

and this may be something

we do alone

but this is not something

we do alone

I could long for a landing

or dread the crash

or I could simply say thank you

pull the string

let the winds carry me

where they will

traverse the wide-open spaces of knowing

and not-knowing

of yes

and of if

and of when

and of how

all the while

keeping my eyes peeled

for a hand on the horizon

I can take in mine

before finally

drifting

down

While transitioning does involve the loss of certain relationships, I have been struck by the quality of the relationships that remain. The process of being honest with ourselves and those around us can be disheartening and clarifying.  While it may take time to find and cultivate relationships that truly reflect us, it can be done. Do not lose heart if you feel alone. Give it time. You are worthy of good love.  I am grateful for those in my life--who have reached out their hands to take mine--in the most uncertain of times.

Who are you grateful for? How have they offered "a hand on the horizon" to you?