Always leave thread in the needle
A poem-of-sorts I shared on Medium last week: Advice to Writers: Always Leave
Always leave thread in the needle and the sentence half-written.
The plunge into chill water is the hardest part, so leave the burner on, the hot tap running.
Don’t let ink sit in the pen for too long — it clogs the nib. You’ll lose time momentum interest scraping a dry point across your skin until the clot dissolves.
Always leave the iron on. You may return to find useful scorch marks, or with luck ashes you can read like tea leaves.
Fail to secure the lids of your garbage bins. While cleaning up the raccoon rummagings, you may happen upon lost notions or revelatory peelings. Sweep up the spilt verbs and reassemble them into cracked sentences. Smells are the best glue.
Amy says:
Wow. I just love it. Copying into my commonplace. Thank you!
On September 20, 2019 at 6:15 am
Susanne Barrett says:
Love this, Lissa!! My favorite line is this:
“Sweep up the spilt verbs and reassemble them into cracked sentences.”
Thanks for a lovely start to a very busy day!!
Warmly,
Susanne 🙂
On September 20, 2019 at 7:33 am
Susanne Barrett says:
Also…
“Upturned drawers will yield the best nouns.”
Yes!!!
~S 🙂
On September 20, 2019 at 7:36 am
Anne Neulieb says:
I read this when you first published it, and I love it!
On September 20, 2019 at 10:50 am
Cate says:
Love the poem! And not to be too literal, but doing an NY Times crossword will also get the writing juices flowing, I used to save classmates’ in college just for this purpose. Even a Monday one will do.
On September 22, 2019 at 2:02 pm
Carleen Elise Armstrong says:
Oh man. That’s delicious and true. I love the idea of putting it into my Commonplace. Gonna do it tomorrow during piano lesson. <3
On November 19, 2019 at 11:45 pm