I was looking through a folder of poetry and stories from high school and I found this, written 51 years ago today.
My Friend, the Proton
the proton in my friend, a very nice friend he is
staying in his orbit, always minding his biz.
sometimes the little proton gets lonely
like we all do, so he finds a willing
hydroxide, and they form a drop of water
falling split-splat upon my window-pane
like my chemistry book says they oughta;
yes, the happy proton is a good friend.
I recently received a misdirected email from a women's program at a writing group. The topic was writing for 20 minutes a day as a form of "accountability." I liked the idea and wrote this to describe my own form of creative accountability.
Writing 20 minutes a day has been an obsession
for so long I feel anxious when I don’t write. I started a journal on September
15, 1970, when I was 12 years old, and I never stopped. Early entries were
sporadic but by 1972 I wrote daily, musing about school, books I read, the
Dallas Cowboys, religion, my divorced parents and girls girls girls.
I still write at least a few sentences every
day in 140-page wire-bound notebooks from Target or Staples. I fill at least
three every year. Each notebook is numbered and closes with an updated total page
count. I avoid using the same pen for consecutive entries, so the ink color
varies. The topics range from national news to anxieties about aging to creative
ideas and my relationships. I even reflect on what happens to my journals when
I’m gone.
Scribbles and screeds, sometimes in capital
letters, from decades ago provide the raw material for blog posts, essays,
fiction and open mics. What I tossed off in the 1970s as a teen says a lot to me
as I’m into Social Security territory.
My suggestion: Devote yourself to a creative
effort daily for even a month or year and you’ll write an amazing amount of
content. Far from a burden, it will become a daily passion.
