Tabula Rasa.

(I thought I'd start out this clean slate of a school year with one of my favorite poems. )

I Shall Paint My Nails Red
Because I am proud of my hands.
Because it will remind me I'm a woman.
Because I will look like a survivor.
Because I can admire them in traffic jams.
Because my lover will be surprised.
Because it is quicker than dyeing my hair.
Because it is a ten-minute moratorium.
Because it is reversible.


-Carole Satyamurti