THANKS BE TO THE FAITHFUL

Every time I return from yet

another sojourn

to the great beyond, 

an increasingly unknowable place

that grows ever more difficult to describe

and even more challenging to articulate.

Without exception, without fail,

I am always warmly welcomed back

Embraced by a group of friends,

the nucleus of which

is such that I know not how to classify, 

categorize, or in any way explain.

Such exceptional people, I am certain,

are as rare as true love and just as precious,

if not more so. People – friends, of whom 

I know I am unworthy—yet 

feel incredibly blessed to have in my life.

When I finally soar back into their lives, 

as if on the wings of some recalcitrant

—or at least at last, forgiving angel,

there are never any recriminations,

nor the slightest whiff of disapproval

and not a hint of disappointment.

If any of these, feel any of that, they 

are incredibly careful to keep such 

feelings expressly well-hidden, from me. 

Their love and acceptance seem, 

and after years of experience, 

I believe is, truly unconditional.

So – no matter how long my

fickle health has me go to ground

or contrarily, provokes

months of behaviour so bizarre

my family must crave disowning me,

this company, never intrusively,

always reassuringly, but really – just there—

lets me know, throughout all the

shades and vagaries that

make up my shredded life:

I am loved, I am treasured,

I am valued beyond all measure and—

when I am so inclined, or my demons at last

let loose their surly bonds; no matter should it take

a million untold days, my band of allies will still be there for me

Eager, nay, impatient to help pick up the ruined threads

that link the fragile web of my existence

to the weft and weave of theirs, and to carry on as if uninterrupted... 

We continue—

their strength becomes

my strength, at least

for a time

and I know,  

I do, I am so very blessed.

S.E.Ingraham