The Other Side

The other side

You can cross over

Whether willingly

Running to the border with light feet and a lighter heart

Ready to step out into the brave new world

Prepared for new experiences, new challenges

Fingers crossed and mind open

Or unwillingly

Drug over by a force all-powerful

Pulled kicking and crying

Wanting to stay safely on the current side

Where the surroundings are familiar

And changes reach the significance of a new cereal

Or a new haircut

Or maybe oblivious

Oblivious that you are crossing over

Oblivious that life as you know it is done

And a new dawn awaits

This crossing over

Will change it all

It may seem small

A small change

But that little change is like a domino

Crashing into the next

Clanging loudly to the ground

Because they will not go quietly

Falling, falling, falling

Until the rubble lays

Defeated, waiting to be set back up

Yet after you cross to the other side

Willingly, unwillingly, unknowingly

You can never come back the same

You can’t set dominos the exact same way twice

You can never be that person

Who ran to the other side, excited for this new chapter in life

Now you are the person who has come back a little less naive and a little more experienced

You can never be that person

Who was dragged to other side, dreading the horror that awaited

You are now the person who comes back learning to live with loss, stronger and more aware of the treasures that don’t last forever

Or the person who crossed unknowingly

Who returns with their life jumbled around

Flipped upside down

Or maybe right side up

You’ll never know

Until you cross

The other side