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# Power Pose
- URL: https://dianaludwick.com/power-pose/
- Published: 2026-01-09T19:48:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:12:54.000Z
- Description: "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.
- Author: Diana Ludwick
- Tags: 2026 Poetry Challenge, Poems, #Migrated-1792872215677, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-24 20:03

I did not recall that  
We had pre-read tasks.  
  
Four hours’ 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;  
‘Power Pose!'  
  
Eyes up  
Shoulders broad  
Legs wide with  
Teeth showing behind a  
Red lip.   
  
“Take two minutes and try it!”   
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;  
“Fruit de la passion.”   
  
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’s time.  
I sit down, turn on my camera, say “hello!”  
To the group of strangers.  
  
Within minutes,  
A participant sends a group message:  
“Diana can you LinkedIn me? Let’s be friends!”  
  
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:   
“When I first saw you, I said,   
‘Look at her lipstick! I need to meet this woman!’”  
  
“And then when you started talking, that sealed it,  
I said, ‘I am going to reach out!’”  
  
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.