capes

We’ve been headed somewhere

Haven’t we?
We’ve been following
The mental trajectory
Of an overly prepared
Highly anxious
Midlife woman
In the epicenter
Of the epicenter
Of a global pandemic.

It’s been a wild ride
And loads of laughs,
But, let’s take a diversion
Let’s swerve the steering wheel,
Do a one-eighty,

Take a wild imagination
And flip it over.
Like a back handspring-
But one and a half times-
And land it on its head.

the victim is now the hero.

a hero who can do backflips!
and escape from fires
evade disease and illness
say the right thing at the right time
(and the thing is witty.)
she is 45, yes, and short
positively Napoleonic in response to the towering world around her
she has been called "small but mighty"
and she believes she lives 5 feet two inches up to the term.

you following?

it's me.
the hero is me
the short one
the insecure short one
who is 45 years old

yes,
after much debate with myself
and long consideration (roughly the duration of a shower)
I’ve decided to introduce another side of myself.

you have already met anxiety-me,
or as one reader put it:
“Dark Ginna”
–which I love, and expect to use to sign autographs if ever given the opportunity–

but “Dark Ginna” is merely the nemesis... or alter-ego...?
of the hero behind the mask
it's a mask that goes over the nose and mouth
and should be worn inside public places
the mask is pink
and was sewn by a powerful wise woman
whose identity remains hidden behind the name
 “nana.”
nana is fierce.
the mask is fierce.
it's pink and small and made by a grandma in Ohio
and it fucking saves lives.