Susan E. Greisen

I was challenged to write a piece for our writers’ organization, Red Wheelbarrow Writers, to be published in a collective anthology. Here was the assignment:

Submit fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that captures the importance of a particular place and its power to surprise, transform and inspire. Keen observation of everyday scenes reveals how simple, seemingly mundane encounters can have a profound impact. We are looking for pieces that explore how the experience of a place can alter perspective, shift understanding, or spark a revelation. Take us on a journey in your unique voice to a place as small as a room or as big as a country and tell us what happens there! The title of the anthology will be A World Unsuspected.

I had only two weeks to submit my piece. I had taken some poetry classes recently, including the art of rhyming. I could write a rhyming poem. Way too much work, I thought. Besides, poetry has to be inspired from within, not an assignment. And writing prose would take me weeks. So, as a test, I threw myself into the abyss of rhyming poetry. I was pleasantly surprised. Within two to three hours, I had a finished poem entitled, My Sacred Temple, that fit the goal perfectly. I was so touched by the message and my personal journey that I cried the first several times I read it. I received permission from my yoga family to use their real names. When I read it to all my yoga classes, everyone was touched and inspired.