Humid Head: A Writer’s Lament

My brain has gone out for a little fresh air,

I’m fairly sure it was here, but it’s no longer there.

I reached for a thought, but it slipped out of sight.

A perfectly good thought. It was there half the night.

Which, frankly, is awkward when writing’s your trade,

Because words are the tools from which poems are made!

I need them to sparkle, to twist, and to flow,

But today they’re on strike, and refusing to show.

I know there’s a word for the thing I require,

It’s sitting somewhere in my mental attire.

I can almost see it. I know what it means,

It begins with a letter. Perhaps it has beans?

No. Not beans.

My sentence was perfect. It had rhythm and flair.

Then one word simply vanished into the air.

I stared at the screen. I stared at the wall.

I stared at the dog. The dog knew it all.

The humidity’s thick, and my brain’s joined in,

Which seems rather rude and surely a sin.

To come from a writer whose job is to write,

Today every sentence is putting up a fight.

And then fibro arrives with its usual grace,

Dragging its weary self into the place.

“Were you planning on working?”

“Well, yes, as it happens.”

“Adorable.”

And there goes the writing!

I start with a paragraph, then wander astray.

I forget what I meant approximately halfway.

I open a document, determined and keen,

Then wonder what on earth the word document means.

My characters wait for me, patiently poised.

My plot has collapsed. My metaphors are annoyed.

A perfectly good chapter is waiting to be born,

While I’m wondering whether I’ve had lunch since dawn.

So if you’re a writer and fog fills your head,

And the words that you wanted have seemingly fled,

Take heart, you’re not broken, incapable, though,

Your brain’s simply buffering. Mine’s doing it too.

And when it decides to reconnect with the land,

I’ll pick up my pen and get back to the plan.

Until then, there’s nothing remotely to fear.

I shall sit very still....

And call it a writing career.

Sally x

Sally Somerton - Island Writer

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