Can I finish a draft in ten minutes? Can I start a new post? Should I find something old and just re-share it, or does that break the spirit of this challenge?
Should I tell you why I didn't get started on my post till just now?
Should I mention that I went to a poetry showcase today, and read some of my work? How it feels to walk up the stage as many things and always walk down as a felon? How it feels to be an audience to other poets? How sometimes they say things that my heart has felt but didn't have the words to explore?
Should I tell you about the energy? How I come to every reading tired, and leave shaking with adrenaline and ideas?
I went to a poetry reading today, and I read my work. The theme was "finding the goddess within", so I told people where I came from and how I have used that history as a map to my inner self. I told people how I am dinosaur, and how that is my goddess totem.
Hindu goddess are depicted in the form that explains them best, and I know how I would look there.
I would have the long spiky tale of a rex. And in my hand, there would be a sun. And in my hand, there would be a moon. And in my hand, there would be a dying dandelion. And in my hand, there would be a living lotus.
And you would be able to see my heart through my skin. Nanking blue, porcelain cracked.
I would be holding it in, holding it together, with one hand,
but my last hand would just be empty, saving space as I eagerly reach out to you.
