by Elizabeth Page Shepley
I strap my shield across my back
I pull on my mask
and button my cloak.
I’m taking my work to print.
I blow my worries into a latex balloon
and let it fly and screech across the room–
Delighting the kid inside.
My belly shakes,
and cheeks glow bright cherry
as I laugh my way beyond my growth edge.
My autonomic response still alive
with butterflies and a slight dizzy flush in my skull,
but it is not the same.
The script inside has shifted;
these signals rewired as excitement–
Slashing the fear monster to half-size.
And I’m off to enjoy the adventure.
(inspired by day 15 PAD challenge prompt from 2012: use the following words in your poem: slash, button, mask, strap, and balloon–in any order. It only took me 10 years to get to work on it.)
(c) 2022 by Elizabeth Page Shepley
Each time I read this poem, I am pulled back to this line, “I’m taking my work to print.” Not to be stopped or misdirected along the way. Empowerment, confidence, and joy in the unknown adventure – mmmmm yes!