October 5, 2026

tried to write about
some tough stuff

ended up just staring off into space

and playing with the dog

and i did finish it, but i don’t think it had the
spark
of my normal morning poetry
[too much searching for the right term
not enough emotional flow]

so

here i am, trying to write more
trying to find something to get into a flow for

but this morning may be
a morning for normal human needs
food and water and connection and
maybe the creativity
will come at the end of the day

[maybe even in the form of a
colorful catober
finally!]

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?]

January 5, 2025

a goal
became a challenge
became a dare
became a pact

and i’m only acting in accordance with
the original wording i signed
onto in this contract
with myself

[perhaps i will stop referring to this as a poetry-writing challenge
with a word count goal
and use instead the words
dare
and
pact

they hold more equal weight
with what this has done
to my soul]