let’s write first
before we get caught up
in the weeds of the day
let’s write first
before we start recording
all the facts and figures
let’s write first
before we forget what creativity
feels like in the hustle and bustle
let’s write first
before it’s already nighttime
and the sads take over
let’s write first
before other needs are met
because creation
itself
is a need
so let’s create
by writing
first
morning poetry
September 23, 2026
morning page poems are such a wild ride
because i sit down at a screen and start to write
and have zero words
[well, technically three, as i date every entry]
and i begin to write
and no matter how many words i put into the document
the word counter never seems to go beyond 150
and with a 300 word goal, this is agonizing
so i sludge and trudge through this sand dune of letters
never seeming to become full words that count
and i write and write and write and write
and eventually i forget to check the word count —
i get lost in a poem or a memory or a simple phrase
and before i know it, i’ve gotten multiple poems down
and i glance at the word count, and it’s approaching 300
not quite there yet, but i get a sense of sadness, that soon i will achieve the 300 word mark
and that means i no longer need to be writing
[not that i’d stop myself from continuing on, it’s just a weird feeling of disappointment, that i won’t actually
need to be writing anymore in a moment]
and then
i get lost again
in a poem/word/thought/phrase/memory/something
and i glance down at the word count
and i’ve gone well beyond 300 words
[just now i hit 500, in case you’re wondering]
and i wonder if i’m feeling like my morning pages are done
i wonder if i’ve got anything that i’m willing to post to share
into the ether/the void/the possibility of it being read
though so few people actually do look to read
every
single
day
but i do
do this
every
single
day
and tomorrow morning the journey will probably be the same
but the words/phrases/poems/thoughts/discoveries
will not be
and i think that’s neat.
September 6, 2026
300 words
is my writing goal
every morning
and i usually hit it
[no, not always, but usually]
and i usually feel settled
by that time
enough words to get the morning sleepies out
enough words to find a thing i’m fine with posting
enough words to feel warmed up
emotionally/intellectually/creatively
for the day
but these past few days
300 does not feel like enough
and there isn’t anything that says
300 is a limitation
it is literally a minimum
[and even then, these are all rules i set for myself
so if i can only do about three words
that turn into a short poem day,
that’s fine for me,
that’s fine
that’s fine]
but i find it incredibly interesting
that a few weeks ago
i ran into multiple days
i couldn’t even find the time to write
anything
and now, two-ish weeks later
i’m itching
for more
and more
and more writing time
and making it happen
[am i, after five and a half years of this silly, self-imposed writing challenge
becoming something like
a “real”
writer?]
July 22, 2026
i’m writing so many words today
figuring things out in my brain i
didn’t know i needed figuring out
through poetry
and allegory
and just straight up facts
the coffee has hit the tastebuds
but i’ve written so fast
i think it hasn’t yet hit the bloodstream
or brain
quite yet
i didn’t know i didn’t know i didn’t know
i needed to process these particular things
but that’s why morning page poetry is so useful:
sometimes you sit down to write
and you just write about how much you’re
not writing
and sometimes you sit down to write
and discover secrets that you had hidden
from even
yourself
now to process the processing…
July 17, 2026
writing gibberish
writing balderdash
writing silliness and illegible things and nothing at all
writing not only to have written
but to feel the feeling of writing
writing to wake myself up and warm myself up for the day
that probably won’t include more writing
[but you never know…
you
never
know]
July 11, 2026
the writing this morning is coming along
slowly
i’m writing at a fine pace
but my brain is having a hard time catching up
and accepting the words i’m
placing down
i don’t feel slow
i feel
segmented
the fingertips will make a decision
and the brain won’t get involved
until the eyes finally look and read
and then the brain says
“hell no”
and we start all over again
with new words
new topics
new fingertips leading this time
how am i supposed to get morning poetry done
in these conditions?
May 7, 2026
at least we have a bit of
morning pages time this morning
before the utter chaos and mild terror
of in-laws
and in-law-puppies
come barreling down the stairs
May 6, 2026
as i write
and write and write
throughout my life
i wonder what it’s all about
who it’s all for
if it’s all for me, that seems
statistically
a little daft
for there are billions of
people on this planet of ours
and even more that have come before
and will join us
after we are all
gone
so to write for only one life
that feels
foolish
but again, the human condition is such that
writing truly and honestly
for yourself
often makes happenstance happen
and many many others
see themselves in your
words
so to write for others
in a way that makes others feel seen
you need not think of the others
[you must not think of the others]
else the writing comes off as
cliche
or trying to hard
or pandering to an audience
i can’t stop myself from thinking of an audience
even as i write these morning poems
daily
daily
daily
that i doubt even i could ever get through
on a re-read
i can’t help but wonder
if someone will love reading my words
with as much care and mild obsession
as i took writing them
[or is that not true — i’m not really careful
or obsessing
as i write these
every
single
morning — i’m flinging them
stanza by stanza
out into the ether
and hoping they catch the eye
of someone
who needs them]
April 19, 2026
one more
just for funzies
just for writing
just for clearing out the
cobwebs in my brain
one more
just for doing something
just for getting writing out
just for waking up my whole self
before it slowly drifts away
one more
just for excuses
just for habit-forming
just for habit-breaking and re-making
one more
just for me
just for a reader i’ll never see
just for the universe to know
i wrote
one
more
poem
March 22, 2026
i’m not getting out what i want to get out
this morning
[but the problem with having
a writing practice
of trying to get things out
in the morning
is that sometimes
you’re only half awake
and half aware
of the things that actually need to be stated/written/gotten
out
so sometimes you just have to write
about the fact that the writing
just isn’t doing it this morning
and hope that makes something come out]
