Reaching Out

I don't visit the cemetary often.
This is only the second time
since the funeral.
It's peaceful there, surrounded
by a forest. As I walked
the row of tombstones,I noticed
Someone standing there,
in the twilight. Coming closer,
I saw it was myself.

She looked so scared and lonely.
I felt compelled to stay and talk.
She said that she had been hiding
behind another identity for over thirty
years and now it had been
stripped away. She is beginning
to realize she isn't much different
than she had been before,
that the flaws in her
character still exist. This frightens her.
She knows that she once made
decisions not always in her best
interest.This unhappy woman knows
she relied on the protection that
being part of a stable couple
had offered her. Now, she finds
herself solely responsible
for the direction of her life.

Seeing myself this way made me
realize, I am so much stronger
than she. I am able to use
what I have learned these years
to my advantage, rise above
the needs that once powered
foolish choices.

So I took her in my arms as if
she were my daughter, assured
her that I would stay with her
and together we prayed over
our lover's grave.