morning writing

January 16, 2026

/ HJ / Leave a comment

break the habit
and form it back up again
stronger
[or weaker]
than before

hold it together with
dips in time
and days gone by
and a word here and there
tied up with a bow of
intentions
and whatever free time there is to spare
for a curse against
other curses
and mortality
or mundanity
in general

hold it together
hold it together
hold it but not too tightly
for breaking may make
it easier
[or harder]
and you’ll only know
once it
happens

[and sometimes that’s a risk one must make]
[and sometimes
it absolutely
is
not]

January 15, 2026

/ HJ / Leave a comment

still haven’t done much
morning poetry writing
this morning
[none at all
yesterday
morning]

but that’s ok
that’s ok

it’s just a personal goal
and the point is to write
and eventually catch up

i can easily do that after therapy

or in the evening
if i so choose

[or even tomorrow]

it’s just me
it’s just for me

it’s all ok

it’s all ok

September 14, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

not feeling the morning page poetry
this morning

but that doesn’t mean
i won’t do it

i mean

i continue to do this
every
single
morning
whether i’m in the mood or not
just to have something to do
just to have a habit to latch onto
just to have some proof
to say
‘i was here, i had thoughts and feelings and insights, too’
and maybe someone will read them soon
and maybe someone will read them in hundreds of years
and maybe
because they’re all digital
they’ll disappear into the ether

but

maybe the ether will get a kick out of all these poems

and they and the void can talk about me
behind my back
when i’m long long long gone

April 28, 2025

/ HJ / Leave a comment

i don’t actually know what it means
to be
a great writer
a great poet

i’m just sitting here
at my messy dinner table
early in the morning
writing whatever comes to mind
as a way to encourage myself
to deal with the day
that is coming towards me
at breakneck speed

maybe,
when you’re in your ‘fighting a [seemingly] losing war
against fascism with the best tool you have —
kindness’ era
you’ll understand

~~~

i feel like this kind of morning
and this kind of writing
is the reason i started this challenge to begin with

i feel more awake
more aware
more ready to start my day

though i still need to edit and pick and send in the audition
i feel so much more prepared for it
now

~~~

“you look like such a writer!”
of my big sweater
comfy tee
glasses
bun
and coffee in hand

and i do, don’t i?
i do…

July 18, 2024

/ HJ / Leave a comment

taking time from poetry
to pat the cat on my lap
or encourage the puppy to play with her ball
or say random sentences to kip about
the randomness in my brain
[what i usually use this poetry outlet to express or explain]
which all makes for great connections
but not necessarily good morning writings

February 9, 2024

/ HJ / Leave a comment

jazzy soundtracks
to lull my brain into awakeness —
to hold my body close
and warm it with the heat
of brass and dancing bodies
in that way that only jazz can
in that way that i only want jazz to
hold me
wake me
warn me of the world
and hold me when the world is too much
and let me know exactly what that too much is
so i can do something
to change it
[when i am
awake]

February 17, 2023

/ HJ / Leave a comment

wake
myself up
with poetry

widen my eyes
with words

pump my veins
with phrases
of soft rhymes
and alliterations

and pick up the pace
of morning
with stanzas of
longing

and beauty

wake
myself up
with poetry