There’s the familiar adage one hears
that stresses letting things go.
If this thing of import never returns,
it was never yours to begin with.
If it returns to you then
it will be yours forever.
The downfall of such an idea is time,
and that the only constant in life is change.
How long does it take for the hurt to recede?
How much space do you need
to forgive or forget?
As well as when it comes back to you,
will it be the same as when it left?
Can the change be something you can accept?
These are some of the questions that plague me
as the person I let go returned
but there was a change to the dynamic.
I find myself holding back even more
than I did before,
wanting to delve deeper into the allowed constraints
but not even certain what those are.
How does one reconcile the before
and the resulting after?

© Johanna Fugitt 2017