the reason

We do get over it.

You know, that heartache that

squeezed your insides so hard

you couldn't breathe.

That heartache that made

you feel paralyzed.

We do get over it.

You know, that loss that

left you feeling hollow and empty.

You do get over it.

If you try.

If you believe.

Because, sometimes, the things that hurt us the most

has a way of turning out to be best thing that happened to us.

* * *

I tried to work on my book today.

I wrote two sentences.

But I read through pages and pages of journal

entries, old blog posts, and scribbles of half-attempts

at poetry that I had written in the last eight years.

So, I wasn't that unproductive.

There is a lot of learning

 from past loves, past ideas,

past mistakes, and

past broken hearts.

And, I decided to write a completely different story.

You see, sometimes we start off with one goal:

get over the heartache.

But we end up somewhere else:

in love.

I saw him the other night.

He played the guitar while I listened.

And as I watched and listened to him play,

I thought, you're the reason.

The reason it couldn't work out with him.

You were the reason before we even met.

Because I had to meet you.

I don't know how our story will end,

but I am sure of one thing.

I'm glad we met.

(written a long, long time ago

for a boy i met at a halloween party ... long, long ago.)

Photo: Dara Russell