29.12.2025

to end the year with a bang

I met my future self at the grocery store;

she wished me happy holidays

with a glint in her eyes, like she knew exactly

what she was doing, holding on to my arm

with strong, warm hands despite her age,

like she knew she had to make me listen.

she told me of all the travel she had done

and the choices she had made, as if to make sure

I would recognise her; and then she left me there

in the frozen food aisle before I could even

process what she said. I stood there, heart pounding,

as if I had sprinted through time to reach her

and not the other way round; it almost made me cry

to understand that, despite everything,

she was not only content but happy.