Poem 143- Sitting on the side

Sitting on the side

It’s been six month since I started

Coming here. Since I was welcomed

In to this group of fit, flexible athletes

Despite my obvious inadequacies in that department.

In that time everything about my life,

Except myself, I suppose has changed. I

Have swapped locations, people, skills,

Companions. Trading it all in, ever

Embracing change as a key to

Happiness and empowerment.

“I have succeeded”, I think on most

Journeys to my new daily habitat,

“I have succeeded”, I think as I struggle,

bi-weekly, in to my sports bra.

“I have succeeded”, I think as I transport

myself to all locations.

“I have succeeded”, I think in an embrace

with you.

Doing a switch of this magnitude

And all the intense, engulfing excitement,

Sleep depriving, arm aching it incurs

Serve to remind me of the scars I received

Each day of the year before.

I am so proud of my escape… even

When I sit at the side of the class spectating

On what has been modified and all

That I no longer feel, listen to and encounter.

Life is different now, life has adjusted to the tempo

Of the atabaque, each song is different as is its out come,

And even watching from the side… I have succeeded.