Try to get to the poem underneath a day, and the words just float on the surface sometimes. Then, it’s better for me to revise and read and wonder.
I’m thinking of my teen students who are sending their final submissions to Scholastic Art & Writing Awards today–our regional deadline. Those hours over the line breaks, word choices, image… yes, I’m so proud of them.
Despite the slog through re-writes and cropping, our goal of letting loose the unfiltered light of insight makes this work worthwhile. I wish it were easier sometimes. Literary works preserve subtle emotions, the essence of perception, and truth spilling in its usual infinite varieties, so that these treasures can be shared between human beings. And I come around to gratitude for the work again, not too long after.
poet | artist 