"Talent, Borrowed" By, Erica Jacobs

My elusive, creative Genius tiptoes through the walls of my writing room

She places her disarming hand on my furrowed, worried brow

Assures me creativity and suffering are indeed not linked

I tell her I am afraid of the work I have been put on this earth to do

I am fearful of the day my best success is behind me

I’m terrified to discover I am forgettable

She reminds me that brilliance, authority, notoriety, fortune, are all on loan

They are not born in me, but at me, with me, for me

Successes are fluid and unpredictable, it is better this way

This creates space for more talent to surface in the face of others

Perhaps my elusive, creative Genius protects me from the results of the work,

Shields me from narcissism, spares me ultimate disappointment

I’d rather swallow the sun, than be solely responsible for my success and failure

I now take comfort in the knowing, I am not a genius. I have a genius.