The One with the Visualization

At a tea house somewhere in Nepal
They asked her,
“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

Her response was not here.
It was there.
Over somewhere else.
Somewhere far away,
somewhere in a different place.
A different heart space.
A changed mind set.
Am I there yet?
She saw it there.
Over where?
There.

She saw the sunshine coming in, the Nag Champa burning,
the Himalayan salt sticking to the counter, tea bags littering the floor.
She saw the books she was going to read, the wine bottles she would drink,
the seeds to be planted, the stems in the sink.
The leftover glitter, the yoga mats rolled,
the stones, the shells, the Indian bells.

She saw the first drafts, the rejections, the essays in literary magazines.

The pictures in old frames of the places she dreamed,
the post cards, the quotes, the long dresses she wore,
that moldy old scoby, the black jeans she tore.

The records she listened to when she was young, running shoes by the door, cat hair on the rug.
Crystals on the shelf, prayer flags blowing in the breeze.
Lighters and candles and butterfly wings.
Silver moon necklaces and Tiger’s eye rings.
She only saw maps of her favorite things.

It wasn’t with her and it wasn’t with him.
It wasn’t about waiting for love to begin.
It was in her mother, three stars and the shore,
The mountains ripped open to make her heart soar.
She saw the cards in a circle, waiting to be pulled.
She saw the soul in her body, waiting to be filled.

She saw it all,
And it all saw her.
And in the wind it whispered,
“Don’t forget about me.”
And she whispered back softly, “Now,                                                                           Now I can see.”