How it was before

I’m sure it has been said a lot
but the words must have scuttled off me
like the way prairie folk
put Vaseline on their faces
to fend off the wind in winter.

But today the words
found their way in:

life will never return
to how it was before

said by a trustworthy and serious person
from the World Health Organization
whose eyes looked sad in a tired way
or maybe it was the other way around.

But I wish I could phone him
and thank him for this gift.

For reminding me
that nothing ever returns
to how it was before.

My children will never be babies again.
This house will never be brand new again.
We will no longer use fax machines,
or throw all our garbage in the same bag.

How did I not see before
how adaptable we are.

Even to grief.

Life will never return
to how it was before.

Of course not.
It never has.
The earth tilts forward
but look at us,
a flock of miracles,
still hanging on.