A Return and a Poem for Poetry Friday

Dear Wonderland Readers,

It’s been a while since I chimed in. Luckily, Tanita has held down the fort with her insightful commentary in the meantime. My only contribution so far has been the font in our header graphic! (Hey, font searches are nothing to sneeze at. If you’re a designer, that’s a serious internet rabbit hole.)

ANYWAY. I’m back. And I’m ready to start fresh, with less of a predetermined goal for my posts and (hopefully) less stress. I’m going to try to adhere to the advice on the post-it on my desk–advice from my one-time Figure Drawing professor, Dewey Crumpler, who once said to the class: “DO NOT BE AFRAID TO STEP INTO THE VOID.” And in accordance with that, I offer you a poem I wrote–a poem about fear, about being afraid to write and to show people what I’ve written, something that often paralyzes me and keeps me from blogging. As an introvert and someone who struggles with anxiety and depression, I often find myself simply remaining silent. However, at the poetry workshop where I wrote this, I decided to address that silence.

Readers, enjoy.

Sarah (aka aquafortis)

A Poem About Writing A Poem

Because it feels dangerous
Because I am afraid of the sound of my own words
Because I’m afraid of someone else’s words
Because I’m afraid of the noise–
or of no sound at all

Because it hurts to think about this (or that)
Because it hurts to talk about him or her or you
Because I might cry
Because you might cry–or laugh

Because the words aren’t good enough or strong enough–
or not enough or too much
Because somebody might read them
Because nobody might read them
Because I don’t look right or because I do–
too different or not different enough or the wrong kind of different

Because everybody will be looking at my naked soul
Because you will judge me
Because I will judge me
Because the sun and the moon and the stars
are watching
Because
and because
and because