A collection of literary short stories and poems related to the profession of, and obsession with, writing.
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Writing Under the Influence
Off to a slow start, I swerve and weave across the lines
of my pages, feeling stalled, but wanting
to hit the highway. I decide to pick up a few
hitchhikers, luminous transients that will lend
atmosphere to my dull ride, maybe give me
some direction, help me steer clear of the adverb-ridden gutter.
I throw open the door to Michael Chabon’s sad, elegant cartoonist hero,
then to Tom Robbin’s long-thumbed cowgirl (how could I not
offer her a ride?) We glide down streets, look into windows of
houses inhabited by Anne Tyler’s forlorn, love-worn couples.
We coax Sylvia Plath from the oven and her feisty recitations charm
the roadside cows, who gather to listen. We pass
Margaret Atwood’s forests – inviting, with
hidden paths throughout. John Irving’s stoic New England
landscapes slow us down, but we pick up speed
passing through T.C. Boyle’s neighborhood, a trip
into a kaleidoscope of images. The engine revs
into overdrive with Richard Russo and Charles D’Ambrosio.
This road feels like mine now, and I’m burnin’ ink. When I stop
for Stacey Richter and Aimee Bender, the road
falls away, we’re propelled into the night sky, dazzled by starlight fireworks
and the infinite universe beyond, wide open and waiting.