On a beach in Lanzarote 

With my back to the wall 

The sea is placid 

Waves break gently  

The sun is going down 

And I’m wondering  how I will survive  

This terrible dislocation  

Being here 

While finding it unbearable  

I've struggled all day 

To find any of the normal gears 

For living.  

I've watched people  

Imagined their pleasure  

In simple things 

An ice cream, a swim, 

A ball thrown across the beach, 

A smile 

But I just can't line it up  

I'm the piece that doesn't fit 

The actor who can't find his play 

The alien who’s cover 

Is about to be blown 

The pressure of dislocation  

Is crushing me 

Then a woman and child  

Move across my field of vision  

The little girl is smiling  

Her hand in her mother's  

And I suddenly know with certainty 

That everything is happening exactly as it should  

That there is perfection in every moment  

Even the terrible ones 

And I'm in alignment  

No longer an outsider  

In that moment I'm in the ecstasy  

Of knowing that I am part of it 

That I too belong  

That I'm in the right place 

That it holds together, makes sense  

The moment passes 

I knew it would  

The monsters return  

But their stories of pain, terror, despair, 

Must now allow 

That hope is possible. 

That somehow  

Life is perfect just as it is