Synthesis

A shift to the left,

and the present came into full focus,

herself abruptly inserted back in it --

after months of dislocation

when she'd found herself standing

just to the right of present time,

watching it fly by,

helpless to feel a part, 

unable to claim her place,

lonely for her place,

lonely for herself,

aching for her time --

because this was not her time.

Her time, instead, had merged into that of a

much younger self,

raw, unfinished,

nudged precipitously out into the present

but not part of it,

an energetic fragment

with fervent wishes and dreams

and the vehement "I won't" of youth.

But tonight, all is calm and clear

in present time --
young and old side-by-side,
no decades clashing,
no battle of wills.
From the benevolent heights of peace,

older beholds the younger, willful and alive,

and knows now, as a mother learns her child,

the impossible wishes that can

never be granted.

She knows,

and the knowing must become

the fulfillment.