#atozchallenge Getting there

I sometimes wonder what people mean, when
in response to my stock conversational opening:
how are things with you?
they say
I’m getting there.

where?
where are they getting?
if I enquire they generally respond with a vague
oh, you know, wherever.
but here’s the thing; I don’t know if they don’t tell me.
I’m not interested in the opening line of the story
unless they’re prepared to relate it to the end.

If, today, you ask me how things are,
although I rarely use the phrase
today I may say
I’m getting there,
and before you have time to feel irritated
by my seemingly meaningless reply
I will explain where I am getting today,
because I want you to know.
today, this week, this month,
I am spring cleaning my body and my mind;
I am walking away from the mire,
pulling off my mud-drenched socks,
rinsing them in a clean spring,
twisting out the moisture
and hanging them out to dry.
I am feeling stronger,
becoming fitter,
and feeling
happy.

©Jane Paterson Basil

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