Receiving

For so long, I lurked on the outside of human experience

Observing but never stepping inside, a bystander looking in

So afraid the good would never last, I could not welcome its light

Without the fear of losing joy before it even materialized.

Now, after a slow recovery from the depths of self-deprivation,

Whether an act of rebellion or a desperate race with time,

My gaze is lingering on the magnificence of late summer evenings

When the sun drenches the trees with golden, encompassing light

Autumn so close, I can sense it in the air in cooler undertones

Apples speckled through the orchards where I love to wander

Sunflowers bobbing along a background of mountains and blue sky,

And I feel it, in small waves, this awakening of heart and soul

A beckoning call to enjoy the moments so fleeting, so small,

Before they fade into melancholy over what could have been.