Here I am

For the first time

Present in a new space

Here I am

Looking down from a mountain across a valley

Looking down from a mountain I used to scoff at

Here I am

In the company of many

In living, loving company

Days marked by nights and nights marked by candles

Here I am

In quiet moments

Where I may repeat and reflect

This time, in wonderful ways

Moments where I can breathe a softness into my lungs

And know that others breathe it into theirs as well

That we all breathe it

Here I am

Kissing doorposts

Feeling the past and the future

And the breathing world around me

Trying to love my neighbors and my brothers and myself

Here I am

After bathing in a bath

In which I’ve never bathed before

And feeling all the better for it

Here I am

Singing to the skies

With my brethren on the Earth

Here I am