Clay Forming

She said

You need to decide in this weather,
with this clay.

 Are you going  to control the clay?

Force it into a shape that you see in your mind?

Cause you can do that.

You  are in control of the clay.

 Or are you going to go with the clay and let it form
the way it wants to form.

What are you going to choose? 

I take what’s in my hands I smash it into a ball, and I start over. 

And  she says Sometimes it’s okay to learn the lessons from something, to know you’ve overworked the clay, and start over. 
I  realize I have this problem (of overworking the clay).   

  I envision this object in my mind, and I am going to create it.
 I don’ t finish it because I need to give the clay time to harden.  Then I decide to go with the flow of another piece.  I let it be what it’s going to be until I finish it later.

See? I tell her. I did both. I controlled the clay in one piece
and I let it be in the other.
Then I try something new. I start to form a sculpture.  They tell me it’s coming along good. But sometimes people speak to just hear themselves talk. 

At the end of class, she helps me put something in the middle to hold it together and then she helps me wrap it up so I can work on it next time.  
I say It won’t stay like this. I’ll change it.  
Next week I might even start over, again. 

 She smiles and shakes her head already knowing.