Break-out Dancing

In me a tenderness
I find
hard to allow ...

Three lines to inspire a poem...

I remember her,
the little girl
sternly admonished
to color inside the box.

Three lines...
I feel the constriction inside me:
write within the given
the three lines...

It compels me
this old feeling
having to color inside the box
to take the most restricting form,
the haiku

My heart so tender
longing for happiness, hard
find solace within

Amidst tears
I hear it:
the call
the invitation
to break out
shatter the old constrictions,
the dictatorship of rules

I hear the call:
let the words dance on the page
feel the heat of your passion
go wherever
it takes you
let go of the past
the dreams of tomorrow
live, live
in this moment, this day,
this life
right now

I find tenderness in me
embracing me
calling me:
Yes, yes,
you can do it

In me I find tenderness
to hold the little girl
to set her free,
to be that woman of passion
dancing in her red skirt
on the stage of her life.