Center Stage

 

 

When I wrote the poem, "Center Stage" I was in the early stages of my healing journey after the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in Spring of 2007. I was getting ready to take a leap of faith and leave behind my award winning career as a VA social worker to heal my life.

Center Stage   

 

She waited in the wings

waiting for wings to soar

moment by moment

step by step

Spirit moves in

no longer the understudy for someone else’s life.

 

Waiting to dance

sing her heart out

celebrating

survival…

 

Music maestro

spotlight

It’s Showtime!

 

I imagined myself healthy, healed, whole and running free despite having been told I should prepare to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, wearing a leg brace and being in a deconditioned physical state. I saw beyond all outward appearances through the gift of poetry. My pen became my divining rod for healing. When I dreamed about taking center stage, it was a metaphor for emerging from the devastating effects of childhood paralytic polio and trauma.

 

I took center stage on many occasions to share my miraculous journey of transformation but this moment, in February of 2020 at the Hyannis Marathon Weekend Pre-Race Pasta Dinner, was one of my favorites. I shared the podium with Boston Marathon Champion Bill Rodgers!

 

 

 

As I sat in a leg brace, using a wheelchair at times for mobility, a cane and having been told to prepare for a rapid decline as I aged possibly needing a feeding tube and spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair, I had no idea that on April 20th, 2009 I would cross the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon.  

 

 

On a cold dark day in February of 2007, I got still and asked for Divine Guidance. The poem, “Running the Race” flowed out of me:

Running the Race   

Early summer 1959 my kindergarten year
everyone around me filled with nervous fear.
Despite the Salk vaccine hope polio would disappear
the polio virus crept right up and knocked me in the rear.

Dancing all around the gym feeling free just like a bird
I dropped to the ground just like a stone and no one said a word.
The pain it was so searing-the diagnosis even worse
"It's polio" the doctor said...he was abrupt and terse.

Called one of the 'lucky ones' I had a 'mild case'
but with the other athletes I could never keep their pace.
Miss Holly physical therapist, curly hair and a warm, broad smile
it tempered the pain of being apart - to walk I'd take awhile.

I always wore those 'special' shoes the kids they poked and teased
with no support and much abuse with childhood I wasn’t pleased.
But put nose to the grindstone and learned all that I could
I couldn't kick a ball but my grades were always good.

Years went by and no more thought to polio did I give
I accepted the limp, everything else and decided my life I would live.
But symptoms of weakness and muscle pain did grow
I kept a stoic face hoping no one else would know.

Life no longer was my own I struggled through each day
suffered in silence, alone and afraid tried to keep depression at bay.
And with the grace of glorious God my world it opened wide
I discovered there was a Post Polio team and they were on my side.                                            

Sought out paths for healing and my spirit flew free
for the first time in life, I could truly be me.
The chains are gone and possibilities abound
I'm a tree with my roots planted firmly in ground.

Using wheelchair to travel, set limits on what I could do
resulted in joy to realize I could live life anew.
Celebrated my body-creaks, groans and need for a brace
while in my mind I focused on winning a 10K race.

I'm now off the sidelines, no need to sit and whine
so much gratitude fills my heart and love and beauty shine.
After all these years I can join the loving human race
I exceed all expectations and now I set the pace.

Although I had never run a day in my life, in my mind’s eye I was running a race.
Poems poured out of me as though a spigot had been turned on in mind, body and soul. 

I imagined myself dancing in the rain without my leg brace and running free.

After intensive outpatient rehab at Spaulding Hospital and partnering with a personal trainer, I declared in February 2008, that I wanted to run the 2009 Boston Marathon to raise money for Spaulding Rehab. And so I did!

Believing is seeing. Dream big and see where the Universe leads. I had no idea that while I was imagining shining the spotlight on myself, center stage, that I would, one day, be center stage as a motivational speaker sharing my powerful message of healing, hope and infinite possibilities. As Albert Einstein said “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”

 

 

 

 

From my heart to yours
In health and wellness,
Mary

 Visit my website at https://marymcmanus.com to be inspired by my journey. May it ignite a spark within you to go farther than you ever believed you could.

My books that pack powerful messages of healing, hope and possibilities are available on Amazon  https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B0047OFIQ6