Week 34 words from @thabani.tshuma: fever, dichotomy, warlock, evergreen and drywall.

if I was a wizard or a warlock

with spells shooting from my fingers

I would vanquish my doubts

and slay my demons

in a shower of sparks

instead I stack my insecurities

stone by stone to create

a drywall around my anger

and in the centre I plant

a tree, evergreen

is it a dichotomy to cultivate hope

in a paddock fenced with fear?

no.

it's an impossibility

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the thirty-fourth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

I think this week's challenge was the hardest one yet. As soon as I read the word, dichotomy, I freaked out. I'm not sure what the opposite of anticipation is (dread maybe?) but whatever it is, I had it in spades. To me anticipation is a pleasurable event. Rather than anticipate the writing of this poem, I was actively avoiding it!

In hindsight the freaking out was the hardest part. It's so true for a lot of things in life - the dread is most often far worse then the actual event. Actually writing the poem was on a par with writing all the others for the challenge. The process of playing with words, connecting with emotions and trying to communicate meaning remained the same. Big thanks for Thabani for throwing me such a curveball and shaking things up!

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub. 

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!