the choice

Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art" could be interpreted as a call to take up our pens in order to gain control over the 'disasters' in our lives. Write it to right it, in other words. But I also find meaning in the opening line: "Lose something every day". Considered in tandem with Hemingway's ghostly remnants, this proclamation could become a mantra for writers. Is there something in your work that would be better felt as a reverberation than the cymbal itself? Is there a shadow waiting to emerge? Or perhaps you might approach a new scene by defining what it is (was) not. It was not spring. It was not love. Not an e.e. cummings' poem. etc.

Writing is a permanent road trip, one that does not include GPS. We will inevitably get lost before we find our way. Read Ms. Bishop's poem, and either a.) lose something from a piece of writing, showing us the 'before' and 'after', or b.) write something that approaches/defines a moment in terms of what it was not.



You might already think you know exactly what you'd do, if the choice came to you. You may even have a speech prepared. "I'm supportive, but I would never do it myself." You assure your friends that you have The Right Opinion on this matter. Right Side of History, hmm, sha sha.


Today, expecting certainty, touting your Right Opinions about what Those People do, you cannot imagine yourself among them. Why not?


But, just roll with me for a moment here, say you find yourself in just such a situation – the choice. You're forgetting that you'll be in shock. "This wasn't supposed to happen!" You're caught unprepared. You'll be forced to consider your family, your finances, your health, your future. And taking all this into account, what choice do you really have?


When you come to accept that you must join their ranks of Those People who Do That, you'll be outraged by the obstacles: the red tape, the tests, the money, the waiting. "I can't believe this is such a mess!" You'll moan to a friend over manicures, but she still has the Right Opinion and little need to listen.


No one warns you how to be in your body in those weeks, how to carry the pain along with the knowing.


It might not even hurt.


It might be just like getting a haircut. Shed what weighs you down and emerge refreshed, a whole new you!



Anyone can try it!