That you are loved
can’t remain a distant fact,
something told to you by others
(who knows what their motivation?)

No, you wouldn’t believe it
if it came from outside,
one of the many things people say
in efforts to direct you

This fact of your being loved
is something as deep within
as your own color, something as intimate
as tinge, as light,
something as fragrant
as your own essence

When you find it, you reflect it back
in gratitude, in wonder,
in the simple fact that this is one thing
that must be so.
Sine qua non. There you are.

©Wendy Mulhern
August 13, 2022