I don’t write in a journal everyday, but I have accumulated many entries over the past 50+ years beginning in 1966. Some items evolved into longer works. Among the leftovers little pieces survived. I thought a collection of these with a piece culled from the same date in a past year would make an interesting yearbook. The consistencies and inconsistencies of mind, skipping back and forth across time, provide varied perspectives. It is difficult to remember the context of the past we’ve lived; we also make suppositions about times that predate ourselves.

The few alterations from original drafts were to improve clarity. The worst of my work is not included. There remains enough mediocrity and immaturity to make me feel humble and you feel smart. There are also moments of accidental insight and incidental humor.

Author Stephen Crane referred to his little pieces as pills…apparently they were small and somewhat hard to swallow, but good for you.


Comments Welcome!

Monday, February 14, 2022

Driving spikes

 

February 14, 1974  (I was 29)

 

Driving spikes

with strong strokes

sinking steel into good wood

 

Driving spikes

arm hand hammer

current flowing through the muscle

 

Driving spikes

each reverberation

sets the next stroke

 

Setting spikes

speed the likes

of which you’ve never seen

 

Hitting nails

into rails

striking mechanical chants

 

Vision focused

arcs defined

strong stood stance

Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)