Ordinary

After my daughter's passing in 2018 life as I knew it ended. Period. And yet, as the days and weeks moved through me, new life, insights, and remembrances became a daily occurrence. 

My body, nervous system, and brain were completely rewired-- updated somehow. Though I've always journaled, I had never written poems or even thought in poetic ways. My thinking and writing were normally mechanical, procedural, perhaps lifeless. And yet I suddenly found myself thinking and speaking in poetic ways.

As a former academic and critical and 'serious thinker', the notion of writing soulful things felt ridiculous, even embarrassing. When I sent my draft of Until it happens to you to some of my colleagues, I was prepared for my fears to be validated. Instead, I was encouraged to publish it-- to share it.  

Ordinary (below) was one of those fully-formed, downloads-- its punchline is not just mine, but yours too. 

When the time comes when your beautiful body and mind are rewired by love, God's grace, may you remember that the real you is not ordinary at all.

 ********

I wanted to be ordinary; 

to immerse myself into Midwest life--

of production, and seasons,

and calculated reasons—

to prove that I mattered somehow.

Weaving in treasured memories,

with the grief and persistence

during long, harsh winters

that taught me how to die,

I became so ordinary,

I could no longer remember

the blue hues

of my Caribbean skies.



Now embracing all the shades of my living

confirming what many already know:

there is nothing ordinary

about any of us.


Mayra Porrata
Until it happens to you ©2019 Solara Publishing, LLC

By Mayra Porrata
comments: mayra@solarapublishing.com
©2026 Solara Publishing, LLC