Which slice of me will you get today?

Will you catch the breeze or the blaze?
Will I simmer or will I scorch?
Will I laugh mid-sentence or pause long enough to make you squirm?
I don’t always know myself which version will slip out first.

Maybe today, I’m a little sassy with my coffee.
Maybe I’m serious before noon.
Maybe I’m the strategist with a thousand-yard stare,
or the firestarter flicking sparks just to see what burns.

You see, I’m a social arsonist
not in the criminal sense,
but in the watch-this-catch-flame way.
I gather twigs of truth, dry leaves of nonsense, and overdue kindling from tired meetings.
And then I strike the match.
Bonfires don’t build themselves.

There are days I am thoughtful,
tender,
tuned in.
There are days I am the jobber,
showing up, getting it done,
smiling with clenched teeth and perfectly worded emails.

But then there are days I walk in like jazz:
unpredictable,
offbeat,
making chaos sing.

It all depends.
What will you evoke?
What will you provoke?
Some people walk by and I give them shade.
Some speak to me and get the glow.
Some just talk about me and even then, I stay relevant.
Funny how that works.

I am not static. I am not a brand. I am a playlist set to shuffle.
One moment Nina Simone, the next Missy Elliott.
One moment full of grace,
the next giving you just enough rope to hang your assumptions.

So don’t assume.
Don’t predict.
Just show up and see.

Because today’s slice of me?
It might melt.
It might ignite.
But it will always be mine.