This is Why I Write
March 24, 2009
This is Why I Write
to save the breath within me
the one that will soon join a company of breaths become
fog voice robin warble the blues
sifting through a cracked kitchen window
I write to savor the breath that is still mine
but borrowed who knows
how deep air’s roots tap
who had it before me
who is holding onto the same tether
holding their breath, too
will I fail to get it all down get it all out exhale to the core
of course I will
will I dream by day
above traffic
within the chaos of children circling my shins
like gullible fish
dream by night
the pillow’s slack-spot cradling a brain
that plots too much
I cannot help but do it
like habit like a good drug
that sustains me no matter that mostly
my breath hovers above
a blank page.
For the VoiceCatcher Collective… for the great creative prompt!
May 26, 2009 at 3:21 pm
‘the pillows slack-spot cradling a brain’
i love the rhythm of that and how it turns into marks in the air, like a drawing, when repeated. I’ve said it in different accents and it still works and works. The poem has class i think.
June 11, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Thank you, Will, for that.
What makes YOU write?
September 16, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I’ve been pondering this question now since you asked me in June. And i still can’t say what ‘makes’ me write, but something draws it out of me. A pull rather than a push. I’m drawing and painting more which is for me a push not a pull.
I bought your book a while back, that got the pen moving a bit quicker.
I’ll think about it some more.