The door stood still, its paint worn thin,
A quiet dare to step within.
It did not open, did not plead,
But kept its silence like a creed.
I laid my palm upon the grain,
It pulsed beneath my skin like rain.
A shadow shifted at the seam,
Like breath returned inside a dream.
Then through the split stepped someone known,
My former self in flesh and bone.
She held my gaze, both fierce and kind—
The self I lost and could not find.
The boards beneath me stirred and sighed,
As though some presence lived inside.
I stepped beyond what came before
And turned to find there was no door.
For doors are things the fearful see,
To guard the edge of what might be.
But once I crossed that quiet line,
The lock… the key… was always mine.
4/28/2026
The Words That Got to Me
All of them, to be honest. But I guess, "For doors are things the fearful see, to guard the edge of what might be. But once I crossed that quiet line, the lock...the key...was always mine." They expressed the self confidence she realized she'd always had.
Suggestions / Possible Tweaks
I think that, in poetry, if a sentence is continued into the next line, the first letter of the first word should not be capitalized. At least, I have been corrected on that before.
This is an original look at a person feeling unable to confront a problem or situation until she does, and then realizes she always possessed the self confidence needed. Creative idea using the closed door to symbolize self doubt, that was holding her back from facing up to her problems.