I am awake
alert,
puzzled,
as if someone
turned on the light
in a familiar room...
just not the one
i fell asleep in.

I am home.
really home.
I am met with a simple reflection
that is simply
me.

where have I been?
why did I run so far?
have I been on a
rip van winkle adventure
but with eyes wide open?

and all around me
I find my life again,
just as I had left it,
and it greets my return
with a knowing smile
and gentleness.


I am home.
at last
thank God.

I am free.
I have discovered me
by running away
to be someone else;
someone else
who missed
being me.

the reflection smiles back
and I apologise.
not shrinking back
but quietly understanding
forgiving,
accepting.

and, for the first time
in a longtime,
i think the suit fits,
and it looks quite
snappy.

Thank God