Writing, Writers, and Poets

The rains and wind have begun to destroy the lovely autumn leaves and the skies are rather dark. Hard not to think about winter's gray skies sneaking in again. I feel the winter writing urge begin to ignite like the tiny flame that starts  fire.                                                                              

I took a gander at Garrison Keillor's web site today and learned it was Dylan Thomas's birthday today. Thomas is a hard one for me to study. He interests me, I love to hear him read, but I often have trouble following both his speech and his written lines. I am just not astute enough to catch all his meanings. I do better when I lift a line or two and savor it like a individual Life Savor taken from the roll of candies. Who can forget his "Do not go gentle into that good night"? Keillor gives us two other great comments from Thomas that I include below.

 "My poetry is, or should be, useful to me for one reason: it is the record of my individual struggle from darkness towards some measure of light."

"Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing."

Thomas is correct. What we as writers should do is write to find our own light, our own direction. Unfortunately, we get lost in the getting paid because we think money  is the stamp of acheivement, the goal, the mark of success. Then again, unfortunately, Wal-Mart does not accpet my own englightment in exchange for bread and eggs!!!

  One more great quote today comes from Jeanette Walls in her book, Half Broke Horses.

      "...a writer's got no overhead and he never has to worry about the weather."

She leaves me no excuse but to sit down and write!!!!