Undiscouraged

Undiscouraged

when I was hitchhiking in the middle of the night in the South of France

I was never afraid               

when I slept on the ground at the Paris train station with my 16 year old brother next to me, surrounded by addicts, because we missed the last train one night

I was never afraid

my parents would have said they were disappointed

but I wasn't afraid of that either - it was the least of my problems that night

when I woke up alone in the train from Florence to Paris with a man muttering in French who had closed us in the compartment and was shutting the curtains, I burst into the corridor waiting for someone to pass so I could retrieve my bags and move to another place

I was never afraid

just mad I couldn't have the compartment to myself

when I slid down the ski slope uncontrollably one morning early, stopping only when I hit a pole full force and my shoulder was pushed out of its socket, I laid waiting for rescuers

but I was never afraid