Out the Other Side

someone stops you on the street,
a person you haven't seen
in ages,
she asks you
how's it going? what's up with
your life?

she stares at your hand,
ringless,
but says nothing.
a few months ago, you would have
told her, you would have
dragged her into a coffee
shop and gone on and on
about what's happened
over the last year.

you would have bared your
soul in gruesome detail,
looking for sympathy, or

empathy, or
some sort of human emotion
expressing sorrow for
your plight.

but now
you just smile and say that
everything is good, all is well,
the world, at last, is right.

i'm happy for you, she says.
hugging me, and kissing me
on the cheek. i'm
so glad you escaped that
nightmare and woke up
to the reality of what it was.

i'm overjoyed that you came
out the other side.