My only job tonight is to write a blog post

That’s the first indication it will turn out badly. The second indication is that I have nothing to say. Here is what time is doing lately: inching, edging, creeping, lurking. It is twisting in my back. It doesn’t spare me, it doesn’t take pity on me. It doesn’t let me sit by the side of the road for a minute to rest my legs. It treads, it marches, it drags me along with it.

In class the other day, my professor quoted this poem by Bill Knott:

The only response

to a child’s grave is

to lie down before it and play dead

I have been trying. I have been motioning surrender with my hands and my feet. I have been telling time to stop, to reverse. I’ve been holding as still as I possibly can. I’ve breathed in nothing but dirt and November. I’ve frozen my mouth so it’s beyond words. And yet I will wake up tomorrow. Tomorrow I will wake up.

3 Thoughts on “My only job tonight is to write a blog post

  1. Robin from Looziana on February 11, 2010 at 10:22 am said:

    Dearest Wistar,

    By saying a little, you conveyed a lot. My heart is with you, my dear.

    Love,
    Robin

  2. Anonymous on February 22, 2010 at 8:35 pm said:

    Wistar,
    You write beautifully – and for what it is worth… we love you and your family.
    Much peace to you Wistar, much peace,
    Lauren

  3. Bill Knott on January 9, 2011 at 8:06 pm said:

    i hope your professor is reading some good poems in addition to mine!

    in any case, all my books of poetry can be downloaded FREE at:

    http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?fListingClass=0&fSearch=Bill+Knott

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