i do not write today

because i need to

but because i must.

~~~~

and, yes, there is 

a difference. 

~~~~

it is not a chore to be 

accomplished, a task

ticked off a list,

~~~~

but a surging within of

something painful, 

beautiful or brave 

~~~~~

that needs the air

to breathe,

be acknowledged,

~~~~

expressed with syllables

and pauses. 

and it is better 

~~~~

for the poet’s health

to put it on the page

than to let it wither

and expire unnoticed, ash.

~~~~

such is both the delight 

and disruption

for many kinds of creativity. 

~~~~

—whatever your gift of creativity is, pause to give it space.

©Heather Pound 2022

image:Annie Spratt/Unsplash

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