Transforming
After all these years, I am learning to swim again, not through water, but life, this thick thing we might all push against, if we are to make any progress, whether warm or cold, we have no choice, but to float. I held what other perceived to be truths for so long, falsehoods in the palms of my hands, clutched tight so as not to let them slip, fragile things that required constant maintenance, for that was not who I was, I was not what they wanted me to be. No one can hold a glamor forever, not even fae, with their powers of illusion, as time wears all things, and so it wore me, like a mountain brought low by the constant flow of water over its surface, and here I am, finally, exposed to myself. I no longer have the buoyance I once had, the floats that once kept me aloft gone, nothing to hold me up some days, but I would rather live this way than face life as something I am not and die as myself, than someone else I don’t know. But we can all make it through and find our rhythm, with a little help from our friends, those beautiful monsters that were born that way and understand the challenges of getting through the day, however hard it seemed at the time, so, bless you, bless you all, and may you find peace, too. ©️ Emma Steel