A lot of people ask – why a chapbook? Let’s start there.
This is a story. Something that has been challenging and life-altering. Three years ago, I heard every bone in my spine snap from the base of my skull through the middle of my back. It was a moment, mere seconds, but the effects were lasting.
It was a form of Paralysis from a dance injury. I would tell my body to move, and the only sign that my muscles received the signal was a searing pain that rippled through me. The months dragged on as doctors hooked me up to machines that forced my muscles to react and spasm again.
The movement gradually returned, but the pain lingered with each step and every breath. Many people in my life wanted me to stay down. They told me to take it easy, don’t do too much, don’t push yourself.
But I couldn’t live like that. I was too young. There was too much to do.
So I forced myself to move.
I considered putting this story into a larger poetry book that is still in the works, but it didn’t feel right. This story did not fit in those pages. This was a tale in poetic form. Something that had to be told alone.
So here we are, at last.
Welcome to my story of Paralysis.
Every step was
legendary.
Not for where
I was heading,
but because I was
brave enough
to keep walking.