DARE (ELUL 22)


To cross the threshold
between familiar and unknown.
To stop hiding. To dance
even if you feel
like an ungainly giraffe.
To let the tears come.
To throw your arms out
and pour light on the world.

To start over, relearning
everything. To notice
what you habitually rely on.
To push on the door
you know shouldn't be open
and laugh when it swings free.
To make a different choice
the second time around.

To admit that you're scared.
To find places you've never been.
To name something after
those you've lost.
To change the desktop, redo
the walls. To line the insides
of your pockets with silk.
To say goodbye this time.

I'm participating again this year in #blogElul, an internet-wide carnival of themed posts aimed at waking the heart and soul before the Days of Awe. (Organized by Ima Bima.) You can read last year's and this year's #blogElul posts via the Elul tag; last year's posts are also available, lightly revised, in the print chapbook Elul Reflections.