Returning to New Mexico

returning again

to a place that already knows something of me

a place that held me before I knew how to hold myself

on this land

I turned around without meaning to mark anything

and realized

I was happy every day in a way that didn’t ask for attention

excitement or relief.

a safety I didn’t know I was waiting for

no longer afraid in the background of everything

and in that space that opened

I found the freedom to unfold

preparing to return

feeling recognition in my body before I can name it

silence will meet me again

It will stay with what is present, without reaching away from it

no expectations

simple

an integration of what has been lived

joy

threaded through the quiet

gratitude as recognition

returning

not recreating

continuing what has already been unfolding

to see what else becomes possible

willing to be met again.