Nothing Left to Write

The pen is dry --

a stately wisp of a thing,

unable to write even the simplest

            of words, images, lines.

 

In this cathedral of stillness,

where light is a candle flicker

and paper is flesh -- needing --

soft white and crisp as nightfall, in places

            where snow still spills in soft drifts,

this room with a view is nothing more

than four walls and a theater screen

            playing the world in Technicolor.  

 

Inkwells line canary walls,

spill black taunts across my desk,

            my floor, my intellect,

but I cannot see beyond the tip

of a quill that begs for aid --

yes aid, because she cannot do it alone,

and I am unable to siphon even

            token thoughts tonight. 

 

The pen is dry --

or maybe it is me -- lacking --

insight, inspiration, intrepidity:

            a funeral dirge plays on a pipe organ

            and I close my eyes in submission. 

 

Morning lingers on a muted horizon,

ready to fan the spectrum of her feathered hues,

but I am still a writer with nothing left

            to write. 

Reviews

[TL Boehm]

There is nothing sadder than a writer with nothing left to write. This is a beautiful poem. Lonely and a bit stark. I always have something to write - Its just not WORTH writing.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much, TL...I'm glad to see you here!

[KAin]

The writer's most feared affliction! The blank page can be your worst enemy, daring you to write. Your grasp of language and your talent for making your words feel tangible means you'll always have something to write. In times of doubt, we turn to those things that inspired us to write in the first place.

Once you do that, the blank page doesn't seem so foreboding... if anything I see it as a symbol of hope, and unbridled potential! With the blank page, we can do anything. Be anything.

Keep up the good work!

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much, my friend!

[I Am Svetlana]

I really hate when I'm so into writing something and getting my ideas out when my pen suddenly decides to dry out and refuses to work. The paper aches for those creative words, the inspiration and creativity you as a writer have to offer. We should never blame ourselves for our inspiration flame dimming, it happens to all writers. The paper will always be there to listen...even to the most desperate who don't even seem to care about writing anything.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you for the kind read and review.

[I Am Svetlana]

You're welcome :)

[Night]

I always get such a fleetingly beautiful feeling whenever I read your work. Sometimes I feel as though I can never understand all the layers of emotions behind a single piece of your writing, but this one I understand so well. The way a writer would frown at a slip of parchment as time ebb into the darkening sky....Oh, I understand the feeling too well.

Beautiful writing!

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much, my friend. I'm glad that you enjoyed this one!

[Pryde Foltz]

There is an air of sadness and beauty that persists through this piece. I get a sense that you do know what to write just not the how---yet. Heartbreaking this piece.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you Pryde...and you are probably correct. I often have so many thoughts piled up that they just won't come out coherently, and thus I am left with "writer's block"...not that I can't think of anything to write about, just nothing cohesive or fluid.

[Pryde Foltz]

Well, this one was beautiful.

[B-poet]

Loved the imagery as each stanza added it's own adaptation of what its like to have Nothing Left To Write. Great work Girl Friday. A creately unique write & read. :)

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much, my dear!

[icelandicblue]

Beautifully said Sarah. The pen is only dry momentarily, a talent like yours has vast amounts of ink in reserve. I think of those dry times as a sorbet of the mind cool to the palate and allowing us to prepare for the next poem. When we are still we regroup and then imagery begins to fly in our belfries once again. Your poem has a very meditative and Zen quality to it.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so very much...your words raise me up!

[Travis Gibson (poetic h..]

"Morning lingers on a muted horizon,"... You always amaze, even with the subject of having nothing to write, you express it beautifully.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you so much!

[kublakhan27]

Wow, I swear only you could take writer's block and meld it into a piece as gorgeous as this...I could talk about how we all go through this and how we'll always find out of it, but I'm sure you know these things already haha And if this really did spring from writer's block, then I think you're immune to it...great work as always Sarah :)

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

LOL You are too kind, my friend...truly. This was me grasping at straws..."this is Jack's broken heart", as it were...lol

[kublakhan27]

Haha yes but you grasping at straws is still better than the vast majority of poetry ;)

[Rosaria_V]

So beautiful!!! I love how this poem makes you feel and think, especially as a writer

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

Thank you, Rosaria!