Ready or Not
for Crystal Fraser & Tanya Shirley

my heart gets just as heavy
anticipating good news
as it does anticipating bad

my fear, will it be too much rain
or too much sunshine
have I the capacity
for one or for the other

will it overwhelm me
will it fill, will it overturn my cup
will it leave me flustered,
will it expose me
for the awful pretender that I am

to find I have a million bucks
or to find I’m broke
with debtors beating down my door,
calling me names
loud enough for neighbors
for passers-by to hear

will it be more rain or more sunshine
than I can bear
will I be swept away by bad fortune
or success, so-called

will I know myself no more
will I no longer be allowed
my same address

losing my house, just as bad
as no longer being able
to find my way home

like Eliza Doolittle’s dad,
assisted by professor Higgins
transformed from being a beggar
to being a man in suit with significance,
with attention shone upon him

like Eliza Doolittle herself,
in weeks, gone from being a flower girl
to wanting to dance all night

transition away from where
and from what
we’ve grown used to being
in one direction or another
or in any direction outward or inward

might be equally disconcerting
might require new clothes
out of your climate
needing to wear foreign fur
or needing to strip naked


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2007
4:20 p.m. 20/09/07