FREED VERSE

I tightrope-walked for far too long.
    My big toe slashed,
    my pinky twice-calloused.
    My arms out to the side,
    but my vision too blurred to balance.

Eardrums burst to the brim
    made the circus laughter sound
    like sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll! 
    Or maybe it was the other way around?

One day was all it took. 
One fall too many.
Two beats too few.
The slipknot fell
and the tightrope snapped.
A lion's den awaited me at the safety net,
with no ringmaster in sight.

But shaken, scared, and alone,
it turns out all I had to do was roar.