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Showing posts from August 6, 2014

Tonight's Poet Corner: After the Break

After the Break by Belinda Roddie It was when the cameras took their naps and I retired to the back room for a snack - something light and not so sinful, a platter of distractions - that the next interviewee, all star-studded and accolade-burdened, approached me and clapped a meaty hand across my less meaty shoulder. "Hey," he said, "I'm proud of you." And when I asked him why, he replied, "you've got a gut stronger than titanium, and the host knew it. He wanted to see you crumble. Instead, you made him stutter." I had gone onto the show to make a point, though my sword was duller than blunt. Still, apparently the minor scratch I had left behind, though insignificant at surface level, was enough for the audience to notice. And they saw that the man who tried to hate me, who tried to break my agenda like glass, was not immortal. And that he could get hurt. And that he could bleed.

Today's OneWord: Radius

By the time I had drawn out the circle's radius on my binder paper, I was feeling impending exhaustion settle onto my shoulders and press hard against my head. I had not been able to properly sleep for two nights now, the anxiety that I was becoming accustomed to nearly disorienting. It didn't matter how much people told me things were and were going to be okay. My worries were taking a deep, physical toll. And it wasn't long before the teacher noticed.