Re-entry Poem

A poem from my journal…a couple years after moving back.

RE-ENTRY

The place where sorrow and hope collide

where a multiplicity of feelings well up inside

The space where fog invades our lives

and our days are full of internal strife

 

The era where all the routines are gone

new is the mantra for all that is done

confusion, frustration, and culture unknown

are the underlying theme of all that is done.

 

Who am I really in this new place?

I can’t even remember how to spell my own name

Shopping mall panic, grocery store fear

All basic routines gone out the window here

 

Church-oh the place I thought I’d feel safe

Has challenged my soul in a very deep place

I feel so alone – unsafe everywhere

Who can I trust with this deep despair

 

Jesus they tell me you understand

Doubting completely I shun your outstretched hand

My anger is great. My humility small

yet you champion my battle and catch me when I fall

 

Slowly and quietly into the fog

you breath your sweet whisper and rivet my heart

here in my lonely, confusion and fear

you shout into the darkness, my daughter I’m here!

 

Healer, oh, healer – I now will proclaim.

The girl who was broken has come alive again.

Faithful you are, and holy and good.

Thankful I am for this journey we took.

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Ruthie

Ruthie formerly served cross culturally in Central America. She had her own rocky reentry back to the USA about eight years ago. She currently lives in the Midwest where she enjoys volunteering with refugee families, shopping international grocery stores, and drinking cups of coffee with friends.

4 CommentsLeave a comment

  • Really lovely poem, Ruthie. Resonates deeply with me. “Healer, oh, healer – I now will proclaim. The girl who was broken has come alive again.” I only wish that line were true for me. Still very broken, hopeless, and defeated after a year and 9 months of being back stateside. Waiting for that breakthrough that will allow me to live again. Thanks so much for this blog. I sure wish I’d found it sooner.

    • It is hard Shay. Hang in there. Sometimes it can take a lot longer then we’d like to to for us to feel like we’ve made it too that breakthrough. For me it took five years in a lot of areas of my life to feel like I was at that point….and there are still times 8 years in where I feel like I’m still in re-entry. So, hang in there!

  • Omg…Found this site on a post from a friend…..was so hard to read what I was going thru also. Knowing that I am not alone helps a bit. Wish I could have known some of this sooner, it might have given me hope in what I thought was a hopeless situation….thank you for sharing

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