Listen to this poem using the player above.
I’m not sure whether this is a poem or a credo or a mission statement or a manifesto or all those things at once.
writer’s song
to write is to stand against despair
each stroke of the pen an affirmation
as ink flows into the paper like a transfusion
the arteries of the world are filled once more
to write is to acknowledge dreaming
caressing the soft flesh of possibility
it is a gentle kiss, like an afterthought
or the smell of cookies baking
to write is to assert the self
one human being in a fragmented age
it is a hand-brake on the spinning world
an extra moment to bring life into focus
to write is to say “I love you”
and to let “you” be all the world
six billion diamond-bright minds
flowing over the earth like water
to write is to throw a rope to a drowning man
to be on shore and in the water simultaneously
it is oxygen in the lungs so sorely needed
to power the dreaming blood, to sing this song
I would say all of the above. Nice.
i agree with julie. it’s all of those things. i think you should go for it and declare it so and instead of saying “to write is to stand against despair” say “i stand against despair” — while keeping the title. 🙂
could get very whitman there toward the end. 🙂
Does that mean I have to gain weight back and grow a fuller beard?
No,it does not!
[…] years ago yesterday, I posted a poem called “writer’s song,” which you can read here. I came across it today and noticed a comment from my friend Carolee about a way to revise the […]