El Paso: The Tumblewords Project: Illusions, Delusions, and Acceptance

Highway 371, Navajo Nation, New Mexico. May 2013.

Born in 1995, founded by Donna Snyder, the Tumblewords Project is a writing workshop that occurs every Saturday at the Memorial Park branch of the El Paso Library. Each week, a workshop leader suggests writing prompts to the participants; the prompts usually follow a theme the leader chooses for the session. Everyone is enthusiastically welcomed. If you're just passing through El Paso and happen to be in town on a Saturday afternoon, go! 

My related posts here.



Below is my output (since edited) from one Saturday. The binding threads are illusion, delusion, and acceptance.

Highway 371, Navajo Nation, New Mexico. May 2013.

Loess

We were pretty smug
In our specialness,
Our quick wit,
Our close-knittedness,
Our uniqueness among the rest.

Handsome and pretty, they said.
Smart as whips, they said.
Ready, always, to advise, solicited or no.
Analytically confident about others' lives.

Such good mothers, good fathers,
Good siblings, good children,
Good wives, good husbands.

Shimmering heads atop a grassy hill,
Breeze ruffling through thick hair.
Eyes alert, clear, penetrating the valley
Below.

We stood atop a grassy hill
Of loess.
We thought our foundation firm.
But it was just windblown dust.

Fresh and faded, Carencro, Louisiana. February 2015.

Evidence

I look in the mirror.

The evidence is there,
Undeniable.
I'm a woman of a certain age.

Not always fair, how it turns out. But
Inevitable.
No use to rage.

Radical acceptance? .. to flaunt the
Inevitable!
The silver bespeaks a sage?

I see the not-so-beautiful parts,
Undeniable.
But I am here, so smile, girl.

Accept.


Not untrue

I won't not tell you
If you don't ask me

But if you ask me
I'll not not misinform you
Of how it might be if
I were like this and
You were like that

Or maybe I mean
If I weren't who I am and
You weren't who you are

Can we agree not to talk at all
And
Just dance?