Performance 2 of 2

I lumbered
Toward the support of
The podium

With intentional
Silence
And a weighty exhale
I steadily scanned
The forest of faces

I hoped
To offer my words like a breeze
But
My discontentment
Delivered a forceful wind
The sort of wind
That tests the flexibility
Of each branch

I swallowed
My metaphors
And unwrapped a new package
By opening my mouth-the gate to my words- the start of my speech:

“Henceforth
I will no longer be performing for you
You don't know me or the tunnels in my
Mind or the words I ignored to utter these........