NERVES AND AWAKENING

NERVES AND AWAKENING

I
There is a feeling so unsettling
…that crowns my thoughts with unrest
There is an emotion so deeply nauseating
…that churns in my spirit and chest
There is a fear that threatens to dismantle
…the self that once stood at its best
A formerly towering self is now cowering
…afraid to put courage to the test
… frightened that my efforts may falter
Yet I will not let discomfort alter
…the course of the self I must become


II
For sometimes, even hens, like eagles, must fly high
…to find the shelter where fear subsides
Sometimes, even sheep must lift their voices and cry
…to escape the harm that quietly hides
Sometimes, the road we walk
…can no longer lead us to a solution
When standing still means surrender
…we must run and rise into flight
For some battles demand more than endurance
They demand the courage to leave our assurance


III
So I am trusting my wings to fly high
…though the ground may beckon with the threat of a fall
I am trusting my labour to lift me beyond
…the fears that have held me in thrall
I will claim the esteem my efforts may earn
…though the path ahead frightens me still
I am holding the bull by its horns
…defying the tremors that challenge my will

IV
For this ladder demands that I climb
…though its rungs may be shaky and steep
This self must rise beyond comfort
Though the price of becoming cuts deep
Life propels us through slides, caves, and driveways
…through passages dark and unknown
Until we awaken to selves we once feared
…and claim what we must call our own

V

This is one such passage
One struggle, one reckoning, one awakening
I will make this awakening thine
O self yet unborn yet destined to shine
Let the self I have been, die with grace
So the self I am becoming may take its place
…not a death but a shedding, not a loss but release
…a dying into life, a becoming of peace

Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © October 29, 2026