Anger

I told him a story about learning to release my anger, an emotion that I was afraid of. I explained that I finally had a safe place to experiment and that I was eager to try. I had been coached by a friend who then left so I could do this alone. She had suggested that I address a specific issue out loud in one sentence. What came to mind was It's my body. I spoke this sentence aloud and whacked a stack of pillows. I did this three times using a tennis racquet held over my head. It had an immediate and profound effect on me. I gagged and cried. The image that came to mind was of a boulder like Elephant Rock, moving a quarter of an inch. After that I stopped being afraid of my anger. I could honor and respect it. Now my spittoon-notebook is my safe place to explore my emotions and sometimes I get lucky and a poem grows there.