Present Peace-Part 5-Ah, Much Better!

Steps in the Arena of Vulnerability
Inspired by Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly and Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in Arena”

The light of lies we tell ourselves.
​The prison doors 
we shut in our own faces. 
The lives we deny ourselves, 
afraid of fear, second chances. 
We risk ourselves to face a 
crowd chanting “boo”!
Subjecting our dreams to 
the light of reality.

I understand now that the darer 
of dreams is fear that must be 
overcome, unfed by cowardice.
Living small, away from others’
eyes and harsh words 
in Spectatorsville, where 
dreams—if dreamt at all--
are never realized, only talked 
about as if they were some old 
pastime too far gone. Like 
publishing my first poetry 
collection, it seems too 
uncomfortable, too vulnerable 
to trust myself, receive the help 
I need, and know the difference. 
To read my own words marked 
up and changed by another’s 
keystrokes. Then decide what 
stays, goes, and evolves.
Maintaining who I was when 
I wrote the poems, while 
adhering to my current values. 
This process confronts me with 
my perfectionism. My limiting 
beliefs that say I am not good 
enough, nobody buys poetry,
my poems are not adequate, 
and I didn’t get the best aid.

Yet here I am. Sitting on some 
lofty goal, not daring to get up 
to remove its creases from being 
crushed,
hidden,
forgotten.
No! Now is the time to rise 
up, dust off, and grab hold.
Get out of the stands, and 
dare myself to enter 
my circle of dreams.


Quiet Morning Revival

Here I am unabashed 
in a lyrical song of a time 
long gone. A heart swells 
beneath my chest
beat, beat, beat.
Let it pour out onto me, 
the freedom of life well 
spent in the simple quiet of 
sleeping babes, no wrong turn, 
no perfect end. The only quiet 
I engage. Wash me with energy 
for a good day. Let me lie down 
in your soft sheets and warm 
embrace. Let not the stolen time 
be taken in the night.
Rise, morning, rise.

Woman hugging herself at sunrise. Illustrated by Venessa Kiser

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