Owls sit before me unblinking
Their large eyes boring into to me
Making my mouth clot with a nest of sticks
And my brow sweat with a cold shiver

I can feel my face ablaze
With flames of butterfly kisses
While my arms hang limp at my sides
Like crisp burnt twigs

Yet somehow
Through the spotlight and the darkness
My legs have stayed stumped to the ground
Their roots holding onto the solid floor
Making me an unmoving force from the fear ahead

And somehow
As my heart beats faster than a deer caught in headlights
And as I play my game of possum
I drench my worries and my fear in a river of fresh air
And begin