Competition Night

They say write raw

Write untarnished, write purple with fear,

Write your words the way they quiver on your fingertips

Write your adrenaline into page after page of slanted handwriting and ink blots

Write yourself empty, write heavenly,

And place your palms and nose and chest and feet on the infinities of self-release

Write your breath into rude interruptions, jagged on the tide of thought

Write your hands crossed against your chest

Write your tide, until it breaks, or until it recedes and leaves the shoreline barren and breathless,

And when you fall into its absence,

Write your place in the sand.