Warrior Pose (w/audio)

The extremes of bliss and resistance collapse toward the middle, on a soft surface that supports patience, strength, and endurance. Within the confines of a colorful rectangle and a restless mind, battles are fought. Some won. Some lost.

A warrior holding her pose, gazes forward. Beyond the studio window there is a lake. Dancing dandelions flirting across the sparkling top don’t seem to mind that it’s manmade. Birds have made a home in the building’s extended steel. An ideal scene to breathe in, while the strip mall warrior stretches all of her being.

He appeared while she was holding, still and strong. Leaning in, he met her eyes through the glass. His shorts were dirty and torn. A man in his thirties, it seemed, though his tired eyes made her less sure. Time and age have different calibrations for those without the comforts of home.

The warrior’s body did not flinch. Muscle memory. Her mind told a different story; it laid down its weapons of self-defense. Wandering warriors in tattered clothes began flooding her memory...

she wore a long dress and pushed an overflowing cart up and down Main Street while teenagers cruised by

he had a long beard and rummaged through the trash near the university (probably not much older than the students)

she wore poofy dresses and carried an umbrella (struck and killed by a car in Tucson*)

an older man I bought burgers for; he looked and spoke like a professor of literature

a man about my age, who made me want to scream at the injustice of this world; his beautiful art pulled from his torn backpack, spread across the sidewalk

a woman who plopped herself in front of a speaker during a night of outdoor music; pill bottles spilled from her purse

At some point along my sidewalk interactions and observations, I stopped asking why, in all its forms, and started simply sending love to wandering warriors – humans in the shadows. But on this day, I couldn’t help but wonder why. Why is sidewalk existence the reality for some?

Thank you for visiting and listening. It has been a while since I’ve recorded my voice. Both the process and my voice are a bit shaky, but with practice I will once again find solid ground. In November of 2020 I posted two audio poems about two of the men mentioned in this piece. Here is the link, if you are interested: “Sidewalk Conversations” Best to you! Michele

Photo 1 by Ground Picture Photo 2 *”The Umbrella Lady” – Lydia Reis (63) was struck and killed by a car on January 8, 2023 Photo 3 by icsnaps

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