That was the first time I felt the vast churning and spinning and infinite series of coincidences that put me there at the exact moment the leaf landed there. It answered a question I didn't know I was asking..I grew up in the same small town from first grade until I graduated. At the end of all that, I went to college like most of my friends. After 12 years of proving myself, I was suddenly in the "real world" where people were once again amazed at what I claimed my disabled body could do.. if they gave me the chance to prove myself. One day the pressures all hit me in the form of voices telling my I shouldn't be there. Now I could and did walk much more and better in those days, and one day, I walked. I found myself in a quiet parking lot on a hill with a cement wall just high enough to sit on. I sat down and just as I did, an autumn leaf landed on the wall right beside me.
Many years later, on a rainy day in Olympia Washington I left family court after finalizing the divorce ending a 15 year marriage. I drove to one of the many lakes in the area. The rain kept everyone away and I walked into the cold water alone. It started to rain and the drops would pause a millisecond before joining the lake.. except one. Far out in the water a globe of light stayed at the surface. I got closer to find a large droplet of water held aloft by a leaf bent just so like a tiny canoe. It was beautiful in its random stability. I longed to capture the moment. In no way could I get a picture. I saw how it was made, and again I got an answer to a question I didn't know I was asking that day.. The answer.. do it again.. to the question.. now what?YES! You are right where you need to be. It didn't get easier. In fact, before the end of that first semester, I broke my collarbone. That moment with the leaf carried me through all of that and more.
So.. here I am. I'm in a new place pulling together experiences and making new friends.. doing it again. Like a kid on a beach making sand castle after sand castle with whoever comes along with ideas and curiosity. I wonder what this one will look like?
practice.. 2023 Sep 25 Mon.. timing a slam poetry idea
7pm.. slam writing and stuff
There's this little slam poetry contest I've entered and it's almost here.. Friday night, Sep 29! I'm pretty sure I'm doing the little story about adopting a kid because my butt killed his family. I still need another entry and tonight I sat down and wrote one out. I recorded it and here's that..
The text.. first draft. I'll clean it up. It fits in the time already, though.. less than 3 minutes.