In the "Here and Now"

You have no idea of the dark places I’ve been

how it took all I have to crawl out of them

I pray you never have to deal, never feel

such loss. But then we all have felt it, haven’t we?

In one way, or another, we all know the cost.

I hear your ‘sorrys,’ your apologies, 
your “I don’t know what I’d ever dos.”

All I know is we put one foot in front of the other.

And we endure.  And we get through.

Don’t mistake my quietness for sadness,

nor my laughter for indifference.

Life moves on and so do we.

We learn to smile more, to hug more. to share our hearts more.

Because when given the choice to curl up in a corner

and close out the world, or to live, 

I will take ‘life’ every time.

I don’t know what lies around the next bend, 

but I know what I have, 

and I know who I am.

And for now, that's enough! 

© Ginny Brannan 2024