by Nelly W

We are rolling into the phases 

where the complications outweigh the eases  

We are about to embark on the sublingual 

the subliminal  

the dance solo without choreography 

You did not get this in your performance review 

This was not on the test prep worksheet, but will be needed later 

This was not on the map, but neither counted as ´there be dragons´ 

This maneuver has yet to be named 

but will have a moniker as noble as a triple lutz  

or a death spiral  

or a pinwheel on the moon 

We knew this part was coming with the rising action,  

the rise in volume  

and the change in tone 

This will be how we set all things in relation to each other,  

all setting compassionate boundaries,  

all getting the broadcast just right 

Dialed in,  

tuned up,  

once-overed 

This was what we were all expecting  

and for which no one was prepared 

the augurs, innards, star charts, entrails all foretold 

It is a birthright,  

meted justice to all the wrongs 

Yet how I’m to live today without alcohol is yet to be determined 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nelly W once turned down a gift of an original Andy Warhol.  She lives in Vermont with her shih tzu Lepidoptera (“Lepi W”) where together they pursue a Rilke-like lived-aesthetic replete with contemplation, philosophy, veganism, an ever-expanding-Zoom-a-verse, and curiosity over judgment. 

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