Beyond

I have a fantasy of leaving
traveling like before
to other countries.
operas, museums, cultures!

I have a fantasy away
from this year of routines
held in place
managing uncertainty
controlling expectations
a year of anxiety

and ambiguity
that sometimes tightens inside
suffocating as in a gush of wind
I’m overwhelmed
out of air

But other times…
other times
it liberates –
like wings!
Letting worry lift
to open my chest
to release
to move beyond

to breathe in
the next step

Notes from the interview that inspired this poem:

He was a man of many roles and responsibilities, from doctor, to professor, to director, to dean. He worked in Houston, Texas, one of the most diverse cities in Texas, with the largest population of uninsured people. “These are the people I like to work with, the poorest of the poor,” he said. He worried also for his students as he managed their expectations and fears in this brave new world of internet learning and living. A poet himself, he asked “What is the next stage for me?”

Interviewee: Anonymous, Physician
Listener Poet: Elizabeth Pringle