Unseen

 I wish I'd found the garden before

my first failed test, 

my first lost love,

my first lost job, 

my first loss of self,

my first loss of faith,

my first loss of hope.

In a garden, every season has its own journey of hope and growth and death and faith.

And we never know exactly what it might become until it has already been.

Sometimes, after winter, a dry brown stalk seems a loss

then Hope says to wait 

for growth below the snow.

Sometimes, the sun scorches the blossoms before they've bloomed

but roots remain to try again

in the fall

when Death begins to declare the rest.

Sometimes, seeds scatter through the soil,

under cover of dead leaves and stalks

until the spring

when life begins again.

Sometimes,

we forget that Life was there all along.

Just unseen.

In a different form, 

on a different Journey,

to create a new garden that has never yet been.

The stalk had died but did not fail to survive; it succeeded at protecting unseen life.

The roots were buried but did not fail to feed the flowers; they stored what they needed for spring.

The seeds were unseen but were never lost; they were creating their next journey. 

I did not fail.

I did not lose.

I am not lost.

I am just Unseen.

I am finding the unseen.

I am becoming a Garden.