happy

and all at once

it hits me

slowly

like a wave that crashes

and settles

could hurt me, would drown me

but sets a small smile upon my lips

gentle and powerful, all at once

this feeling is;

the knowledge that I am exactly where I have been “supposed to be”

the unfolding I could not see, would not understand

an ocean between the mountains and me

a reminder of the hills I have climbed

the impossibilities I’ve overcome

things that once seemed insurmountable

now a solid, strong, and splendid backdrop

the sand beneath me and the infinite sky above

the water so alive with color

with joy

with new life

I rest easy, knowing

that there are people in the world that love me

and that those who don’t

who couldn’t try or wouldn’t appreciate why

I might be a person worth making happy

such

were ones I no longer need

how could I?

why would I?

with such a gift before me and

within me

it’s dreamlike

and worth every tear in my once fragile heart

and open, scarred hands

I’m glad to know that here the path lead

what I once thought to be a punishment

(for what I could never be sure)

would reveal itself to be a path of becoming

in the end

for this place this moment this divine breath

the sunset blossoming across the rippling ocean

would not be as sweet

could not be so cherished

if not for the mountains in the distance