The Years

It doesn't seem that long ago, the day
you hugged your children before walking 
          through sliding doors at the terminal, 

emerging on the other side in this land where 
you' d go to school, to find space where you might 
          listen more closely to the sound of your own 

voice. You peel back previous coverings you'd
been given—daughter, wife, mother. In other 
         words, you can't exactly renounce the things 

that life's brought you (and don't want to), but 
you can try to change your relationship to them. 
         So here it is. You learned about distance in ways 

you didn't know before: how it brings some things 
into sharp relief, how you're still paying dearly for others.