{"id":120,"date":"2026-01-09T19:48:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/?p=120"},"modified":"2026-02-03T00:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T00:39:17","slug":"power-pose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/?p=120","title":{"rendered":"Power Pose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
I did not recall that
We had pre-read tasks.

Four hours\u2019 worth of media -- 
And I have fourteen minutes
Until the session begins.

And so I skated through
The first 22-minute TED talk
At one-point-seven-five X speed
At top volume, speakers straining
While flailing about my home office.

Distracted, determined
I inhale the presenter's insights
Amidst clearing my desk
Grabbing my electric kettle
Finding the right pen
Seeking a notebook with blank pages.

As I whirl about, I am told:

Take up space
Hands on hips:
Wonder Woman stance;
\u2018Power Pose!'

Eyes up
Shoulders broad
Legs wide with
Teeth showing behind a
Red lip. 

\u201cTake two minutes and try it!\u201d 
The expert commands.

I pause in my maelstrom.

Two point five minutes out
From the workshop and I
Am struck by the challenge.

I find a forgotten tube
Of French lipstick
In my stationery drawer;
\u201cFruit de la passion.\u201d 

A hue I had told myself was 
Too much, 
Too daring
Not quite my color.

I slide it on, though, as
I click Enter Room.

Camera safely off.
I stand at my desk, hidden, 
In Wonder Woman pose.

I feel absurd, yet mood improves.

It\u2019s time.
I sit down, turn on my camera, say \u201chello!\u201d
To the group of strangers.

Within minutes,
A participant sends a group message:
\u201cDiana can you LinkedIn me? Let\u2019s be friends!\u201d

I search the Attendee List
For other Dianas
Because surely she means someone else.
But it is me she seeks.

We connect; exchange digits
Set up a one-on-one.

And today, she tells me: 
\u201cWhen I first saw you, I said, 
\u2018Look at her lipstick! I need to meet this woman!\u2019\u201d

\u201cAnd then when you started talking, that sealed it,
I said, \u2018I am going to reach out!\u2019\u201d

And now 
My new best friend and I
Have a committed coffee date cadence 
And a shared hope for our futures.

All because of my 
Last-minute
Power Pout.
<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Power Pose” – a recounting of high-speed knowledge transfer–and the timeless power of lipstick. Poem 009 in a series of 365 poems written by Diana Ludwick in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-poetry-challenge","category-poems"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions\/127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianaludwick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}