soft place to fall

knowing your gig
in this vast universe
of possibilities
is a gift

one difficult to open
perhaps
taking years to allow it to be 
placed before you

pretty bows and shiny paper
presentation hard fought
for...
the road to this place deeply trodden

joy and peace, pain, loss and
gain
were your stepping stones
the path led you to your current peace

seated in your soul
faithful in your freedom
standing solid in your 
perfect purpose

and it still
ain't easy, still you ache
at times
stepping stones led you here

stones are hard
so is life
if we trust in ourselves
we can live in the hardness of the stones

we can allow a soft place to fall
when he or she or they or it shows up
I fell into the soft place
and it was good

juxtaposed perhaps?
the hard and the soft
or just sister parts of this
thing we call life?

today I honor the hard
the soft
the stones
and the soft places
I have gratefully fallen into