One day,
take a giant step into yourself,
beyond the rolling waves of consciousness
split off from your life
into a parallel universe
where your past lives behind doors.

Doors, shut firmly protecting irreplaceable treasures,
you, sitting at the kitchen hightop eating tuna fish sandwiches
while your grandmother listened unconditionally.

Doors, never fully closed,
you, grieving after cancer stuck a knife into plans with your soulmate who shared your life.

All the doors you have built protect your heart like a glorious shield.

One day,
view the doors as monuments of your past,
astonished in the wake of your resiliency
run your hands gently over your limbs,
truly alive, then
take a giant step forward!

Linda Joy Walder

Reprinted from ” Running Naked in the Snow” (Free Verse Press, 2021)