Some Reminders about Writing

You will never get famous
from this. That’s not why
you’re doing it—or if it is,
you should adjust course.
You’re doing this because
this is the life you want.
The means is also the reward.
This life, of long, slow mornings,
curled up with pen and paper and coffee in your favorite chair.
This life, which permits you
the freedom (most days)
to follow the words
wherever they lead,
to unspool each thread of association,
to walk the topography of the subconscious mind
even over cliffs, through valleys.
To sit at the gate of questioning
and knock, and then
to transcribe the sound
of your own knocking’s echo.
To move with curiosity.
To relinquish
preconceptions.
To pay attention.