Taking Flight

Magpie comes a calling
Drops a marble from the sky
Tin roof sounds alarming
"Wake up child."

"Let this be a warning,"
says the magpie to the morning,
"Don't let this fading summer pass you by.
Don't let this fading summer pass you by."

                  from Magpie to the Morning by Neko Case

      

While yesterday bathed in sunshine, this morning has slipped into a heavy coat of fog. Out the window the trees are hazy, distant, their lines are soft and blurred before they disappear into the endless gray of sky. What a difference a day can make.

Yesterday I walked and walked and walked. I listened to song after song, matching my footsteps to the kicked beats of bass drums. I let the winter sun tell me it was spring. I watched the black bird bounce from barren tree branch to barren tree branch. I sat on wooden benches. I stepped on soft, wet grass, concrete. I closed my eyes to dream.

I bought an hour glass, a symbol to remind me to sit in the chair, to put fingers on keys, to build words into stories.

It worked. I came home and lost several hours to the process of working. It was one of the most productive writing days I've had in ages.

Progress.

Today I wake up compelled, inspired to try again.




*Months ago I went to social media to help me generate a list of songs about birds for my book. This was not one that came up, but yesterday it found me and knocked me flat. It is perfect in so many glorious ways.

Signs of life.