Literary Hook: ‘IWRITE’: A writer shares her connectedness to her work

By Christine Swanberg

Author and Poet

Here is a delightfully-crafted poem by Cleo Johnson, a member of Tuesday Writers. Its honesty, candor and arrangment into three-line stanzas make it a pleasure to read.

Cleo has taken some liberty with the language in an e.e. cummings way by combining “I” with “Write” because the act of writing and the writer are not separate.

Cleo has enjoyed experimenting with different forms of writing since she retired five years ago. She is a Rockford resident, and since all of her children live a long distance a way, she spends spare time writing and sharing her work with others. The poem explores why she writes.

If you are a writer, you will really relate to this poem. If you are not a writer, you will find out what makes writers tick.

WHY I WRITE

IWRITE

To clear the detritus out of my head

And arrange it into a captivating story

Of the joyful essence of my life

IWRITE

To capture an enlightening thought

To share with someone else and

Add to their stories

IWRITE

To reflect on my own story

Which affects the why and way that I feel

In the light of each new day

IWRITE

To lay to rest troubling thoughts

Bury them on a page out of sight

Remove them from my mind battles

IWRITE

To store away random ideas

Which seem to make some kind of difference

To reflect on at length at a later date

IWRITE

To entertain and interest an audience

With information new and exciting

To seep into the corners of their thoughts

IWRITE

TOREMEMBER

From the November 4-10, 2009 issue

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