The Molting

I wrote this poem back in November at a Presence-Based Coaching retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. It’s about a transformative moment when I let go of my old professional identity and embraced my new, not-fully-hardened one. Like how a crab molts by shedding its old shell that has gotten too small, and, in a vulnerable state, starts growing into its new one.

The Molting

as the shell peels off
you convulse
wracked with not being
who you were

now raw and softshell
you see the creek rushing
in the glum morning
and grief feels right
and beautiful

and you know —
there’s just a knowing —
as the endorphins carry
you back up the hill,
past the garden plots

into the kitchen where
breakfast is warm.

(c) Sarah D. Beller 2018