.

"I've seen it all" _ an expression
   one says it
   (usually) with the understanding of
   its paradox

whether it's _

 the man who has learned to look
beyond himself _ by choice _ to assure the ones who love him
that he's still alive and _ safe and _ well

 or the woman who knows the importance
of keeping a neighborhood _ a community _ and learning
to tend it as a garden _ come victories and defeats or

 the man who's doing his damndest to redeem
himself from a wasted time with a rushed and
crushing mind full of chemicals and bad ideas or the

 woman that has learned that getting kicked around
is not the same as kicking yourself around _ there is so much
more to crash into _ so much to ruin or the

 man _ or woman _ or whatever it is that's been waiting
to meet you _ for a very long time _ with excruciating patience
and mine too _ we each have them _ they appear differently but

they're all the same thing _ from the same place _ and
they all say it: "I've seen it all," _ "I've seen it all..."
whether or not it could be true _ they need to say it

we need to say it
to make a point _ that if it could somehow
be true _ then maybe _ this is how
it would be/feel