Must admit, I’ve been working on this more than my writing:

So much in the world today needs changing and is worrisome, heartbreaking, traumatizing, even. It’s hard to know where to look or how to cope or, especially, how to concentrate.

In times like these, it’s very hard to have the concentration, the mental acuity, the hope, even, to write or create. At times like these, I often turn to poetry to keep my writing mind in shape.

Swimming, petting my dogs, and my flowers provide a little relief. Still, I know things are not right with the world and that it’s my job, as long as I draw breath, to try to leave better things behind me.

Also, I know that other writers have gone through horrible times and made a reason for writing out of those very issues that broke their world apart. One thinks of Walt Whitman, writing, walking, nursing troops during the Civil War. (Talk about partisanship!) Or the incredible June Jordan, who wrote us through the most extreme dangers of the Civil Rights era. And today there are folks trying to do the same, like the thought-provoking, productive, life-affirming Roxane Gay and Meg Pillow. Don’t know them? Please look them up.

My question for you, today, is what keeps you from writing, and what draws you back to it? I’d really love to know. Write me anything in the comments below and I will respond.

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