Soul Approaching

I see you moving toward me, floating, yet grounded—like the ballerinas in my daughter’s musical jewelry box that twirl and circle round on the mirrored surface, each one held firmly but gently beneath by a single magnet. You’ve been coming this way for a long time, I think. There were points along the way when you felt compelled to stop and wait for seemingly immeasurable periods of time. I know I was at least partly responsible for these delays. I also know that when you get here, you will place no blame; you carry no bags of admonition or regret. I watch as you continue floating closer, and, as you do, various signals arise: lightness, warmth, pain. Though they have always been here, they grow increasingly subtle, delicate and, in some sense I can’t explain, true, the more I welcome them; and the more I welcome them, the closer you get. The birds on my birdbath and the chipmunk resting motionless on my patio stones remind me to be very quiet and keep watching.