When Home Is A Garden

Some people are hurricanes. They run through you, leaving behind nothing

By

A pale shot of red and pink flowers in a garden
Alisa Anton / Unsplash

Those who are meant for you will find their way to you,

but that does not imply that they’ll stay forever.

In fact, most will only stay for a time

before they leave your life

silently and softly

sometimes.

But sometimes people are so intensely present in our lives

that when they leave it is more of a disaster.

Some people are hurricanes.

They run through you, leaving behind

nothing

but remains.

They leave you with a mess

that you can never quite clean.

They leave you with so many questions

that simply do not have answers,

and you never really stop

searching for them.

Your poor soul will try

to piece together a reality that never existed,

and you will have to choose

between moving on or sleeping

in the remains of what once was.

It is important

you choose not to live in a place

that has been destroyed.

Because no matter how hard you try

to put the pieces back together,

to rebuild,

you can not shatter

and go back to being exactly the same.

The more nights you spend sleeping

in the ruins of your past,

the more ruined you will become.

The air you breathe

has been polluted with dust from fallen buildings,

and the ground on which you sleep

has been poisoned.

You can not grow through toxic ground.

Sometimes the best thing you can do

after you’ve been destroyed

is start over.

Start over in a new place.

Leave it all behind.

Leave behind the land that is infertile

underneath the heaviness of your past.

Find a new place, and instead of building a house or a city,

plant seeds.

Fertilize the ground with love.

Cultivate it with hope.

Patiently watch

as the beauty of your new home blossoms

as each day it becomes more beautiful than the day before.

Sleep under the stars.

Watch the seasons come and go.

Observe the cycle of life,

how the seeds you have planted root themselves,

how they grow,

how they wilt,

how they die,

how they are always replaced with something wonderful.

When it rains, dance

in gratitude of the growth it brings.

When it is cloudy, focus on the rays of light

that penetrate softly, but surely, through.

When the sun shines, welcome it with a smile and a bow,

just like the sunflowers do.

Bask in the warmth of a home that has no walls.

Appreciate a home without restraints.

And should a hurricane ever rush through again, just remember

that houses may be destroyed,

buildings may collapse,

but gardens will simply re-grow. TC mark