Taking flight
Mary
Only days to go until the show
and even though I no longer seize up
when I sit at the piano, the thought
of playing to a packed house still
makes my stomach flutter like a bunch
of butterflies, trapped and desperate
for escape, colliding and tumbling, wings breaking,
making every bone in my fingers
shake and my mouth turn dry as dust
until all I can do to quell the fear is picture
the wings becoming whole and the insects
soaring, light and breezy, into the sky
making me feel calm and ready to play.