The poet that I heard tonight
brought their fears, their loves their passions
and shared them with the world
Their pain their blood their past
shared to soothe our souls
Their skin their grit their history
emotions raw and real
and true
so true
for not just them
for me
for you

How hard this was I cannot fathom
the nerves the anxious pacing
or sitting silent hunched slumped
arms wrapped around chest
elbows tucked
hands gripping clutching shoulder blades
a worried silence you could slice

We listened rapt on edge of seats
breath held
faces streaked with tears

We took their poems stories gifts
and answered thank you
echoed thank you

as the lights came up

The editors at Tweetspeak Poetry have issued a 30-day, 30-poem challenge observing Poetic Earth Month, the convergence of National Poetry Month and Earth Month in April. Today’s challenge, based on the poem “Today by the Creek I Pretend I’m the Dalai Lama,” by Susan Wooldridge, was to choose the kindest public or religious figure you could think of, and write a poem describing how they walk through the world. This was a really hard challenge for me, mostly because I found my choices of public figures very limited—who could top the Dalai Lama? I started twice, and this is as close as I got.