many years ago by brother andre
that spaceships do not come with rear view mirrors
and i learned earlier today
that anything but death
would have brought me to right now
and i am overwhelmed by the weight
of the world, and what
and when
and why
and where
and how
we treat each other the way we do
but where i am not lost
a place i understand in the midst of all
of all of everything
is simply, i like you
and in saying that,
because i like you
i also am scared
not of you
but of people
not of myself
but of life
not of death
but of not careening for it headlong at breakneck speeds controlled only by sheer force of will and the determination it takes to have a great adventure
to really be different at the end of the story
than you were when the reader first started your book
and in the midst of all of everything
quietly here to myself
i am reminded that even now
in the midst of struggling with the first
smitten recompense
for rest and quiet and unabashed joy
i will tell you that i like you
because i think you are like me
that you can see love as growth
and change as strength
that at the end of this narrative
we could truly have lived
but mostly
i like you
