Elise Skidmore

April is more than 2/3s done, which means the push for me to meet the PAD (poem a day) challenge gets a little harder every day. But if I can borrow a phrase that’s currently popular, still I persist. Writing is hard. It may look easy to someone else, but it takes a lot of courage and discipline to sit down and do it. And once you’re sitting there, it’s a often takes monumental effort and whatever talent you might possess to put together something others will be able and interested in reading.  Fear and Hope dance a tango in the writer’s heart. Sometimes we trip and fall flat on our face, and other times we soar. Flying or falling, it can be dangerous.

 

Writing Is Dangerous Business

 

Writing is dangerous business.

I string words together

in hope

of making some sense,

of making a connection,

of touching a heart—or a nerve,

of giving someone something to think about.

 

Knowing there are so many others,

past and present,

with greater talents,

intelligence, and wit, than I,

the danger of falling short is real.

 

Yet there is something inside

that urges me onward to face the fear.

I put the words on paper,

and try to ignore the voices

that whisper I’m not good enough,

that no one else cares about those words.

 

Everyday is a struggle,

but I continue

to put the words on paper

and send them into the world

with hope.

 

~Elise Skidmore ©2018