Overwhelming
is a word loaded with layers
and I don’t yet know its true opposite.
First all the ways
I was told not to be:
the way that overwhelming
takes up space in the room,
more than my fair share.
And the way that
overwhelming can scare others,
chasing them away
with the pungency of a beggar
or the jealousy we throw at the rich.
Or even the fear of a retinue,
becoming a pied piper
with too many children in tow.
But mostly the terror
of being overwhelmed,
the call of the waterfall,
the fear of leaping into
a meaningless death,
or being swallowed with no leap.
Despite all this ignorance
I am no longer underwhelmed,
am walking blindly on the precipice
one tentative step at a time.