I started taking some writing courses recently. It was a bit intimidating at first. I haven’t taken a writing class since high school but these classes with Laura Lentz have helped me hold on to my vulnerable side while writing about the emotional things I’m trying to hammer into a novel. Durring the class we do one-minute writes and 13-minute writes, and some of the one-minute bursts have been some of my favorites. I’m going to share a few here to hold on to them. The final poem, Glass Warrior, was a 13 minute write.

Time…

We are all pinned against time. It moves through us, around us, and eventually without us, continually ticking after our own hearts stop. How reckless can one afford to be with so little time to hold onto?

Our Voices…

We bless each other with our voices, speaking, singing, shouting, words of praise, of power, of protection. We bless each other with our words of truth. Don’t whisper, though. Raise your voice. Let it ride on the echoes of the ones who came before and be the guide to the ones who will come after. We were warriors once, women of the world, stopped by a cold storm that left us silent. Do not let silence be the sound of the future. Rile it up with the warrior’s scream.

My Heart…

My heart, my heart, my heart

Can you help me find my heart? I was pretty sure it was here yesterday.

Or maybe that was last Tuesday?

Still, I was pretty sure it was all here

Still whole

Still mine

Today it seems to be missing

The beat silently ungiving

So, can you help me find it?

My heart, my heart, my heart

What is My Heart

My heart is glass, fractured but not shattered. My heart is the warrior’s shield, knicked and battered. My heart is the dragonfly wing, iridescent and glowing. My heart is the part of me that believes it is all knowing.

Glass Warrior

She lives in a sacred cavern

Protected by its depth

Hidden by its secrecy

The rhythm of her, her only betrayer

Sounding out to those close by

Ba-boom. Ba-boom. Ba-boom

To be hidden is crucial

It’s a must if she wants to survive

Glass things shatter if hit hard enough

Her fractures are deep

Her structure barely holding

She welded her shield in front of her

She lashed her sword to her side

She is a fearsome Warrior

Even if her mighty spirit she must hide

To give in to self-destruction, is not of her mind

You see,

Glass things shatter if hit hard enough

(And she’s come oh so very close to hard enough)

This Glass Warrior now must hide