Poetry

I Would Never Be the Same

Grief and joy arrive, still the sun rises and sets

Photo credit: Catherine Oceano, author

One December day I got off an airplane and walked onto the tarmac
The air was humid
I was in Africa

That day, that year
changed my life
I would never be the same

One spring morning I walked into a church basement
I saw a man with striking blue eyes and a beard to match
He would be introduced to me

Despite the baby in my arms (which was not mine), or maybe because of it
we went canoeing that afternoon and married six months later
I would never be the same

One night I awoke and water leaked from my body
We went to the hospital to wait
Later that day a baby girl arrived

She would be the first of many
but the one who changed my life forever
I would never be the same

One day my son took drugs that would call him always
he would recover
rejoin our lives