They say a clean desk is the sign of a sick mind. If that’s true, I must be enjoying some good mental health these days.
It’s known as multi-talking, I suppose, but for me it’s nothing out of the normal situation of working on several projects at the same time. Perhaps we hope that one of our projects will suddenly present itself with a sense of urgency and will become a priority and we’ll actually be able to finish it. That’s what they say is a good problem to have.
At the moment, everything is more or less just swirling around with no particular sense of urgency. And so we chip away, reading, writing, moving things forward, heading off on tangents, coming back again, stopping, starting, giving up, getting back at it again, avoiding, obsessing, running to the library for a book that suddenly seems essential to the project, reading a few pages and realizing you’re only avoiding the matter at hand, getting back at it, a word or two, a line or two, deleting them, trying again, staying up late before giving up and going to bed and staring into the darkness, praying for direction, or inspiration, and courage, and support from someone or something, giving up, crawling back — it’s called writing and it’s how we do it.
The Big book in the middle of it all you may recognize as the Norton Anthology of Poetry, Revised. (1975) If I were to be consigned to the proverbial desert island (can that really be what we call it? Is that not some kind of giant oxymoron?) — this is the one book I would take with me. And perhaps never get through it all. (Or is deserted island?) As for what music I would take, probably nothing. Too big a choice. Having been land-locked most of my life, I would content myself with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. I have such a soundscape on my phone and listen to it when I am taking my afternoon nap. I highly recommend it!
On any account, I was looking at the Norton Anthology because I had the sudden urge to read Tennyson’s Ulysses — especially the ending from “you and I are old.” (Not to mention, “Some work of noble note, may yet be done.”)
But if you look at the book to the left of the Norton Anthology you will likely recognize the rather grim visage of one Thomas Stearns Eliot. I have by deliberate choice been reading a lot of Eliot lately, both by him and about him, for a play I’m writing which might well be subtitled The Death of Academia. Intrigued? Are you a producer? Send me a message!
Otherwise I have various pieces of the new Caffe Beano Poetry Anthology Vol. 3 on my desk. Our deadline is March 31 so if you’re a Beano person, or ever have been, please get in your submission to beanoanthology3@gmail.com. Fame and fortune are just around the corner!
There’s a lot more than that going on on the old desk tonight, but writing this much reminds me i should get back to work.
Thanks for reading!
eugene stickland 