1 year ago. December 8, 2023 at 2:37 PM
Center yourself.
Slow your breathing, concentrate.
The target is just far enough away to be a challenge.
You must aim carefully. The wind, the distance, the size of the target itself. All are factors you must gauge.
Breath after breath.
Slow and steady.
No quaking in the limbs. Each muscle poised.
You draw back, the motion measured with years of practice and you release.
Your arrow finds the target, just as the five before it have.
Five center hits followed by the sixth.
Archery practice is over.
The energy hasn’t dissipated, but the ache in your shoulders says this must be the last set tonight.
Tomorrow’s practice may go longer, no need for a spotlight either.