“Like a page that aches for a word that speaks on a theme that is timeless.”
~ Neil Diamond, Be, from the score of Jonathan Livingston Seagull
The blank page
Both beckons and mocks
For who am I to think
I can take on such a call?
Many thoughts scream,
Yet seem nothing new
Will ever escape from
This word-laden spider web.
The dew of the web
Drips of promise and tears
As I long to write something
Meaningful and inspiring.
I mean, that’s
What writers do
Is it not? However,
I do not feel worthy.
In the midst
Of such doubt
My voice can not
Even pray aloud.
My eyes alight
Upon the well-worn book
Awaiting my surrender
To yet another blank page.
This one private
The confidante who holds
My deepest thoughts
To which I seldom give voice.
Reverently, I remove
It from the shelf of
Many others, dog-eared
By my revisiting
Other doubt-filled days…
Pages filled with
Prayers and rants
Begging, ideas and phrases.
What began within
The pages of these journals
Often found its way
Trickling through the spider’s web
Splashing onto many
Other blank pages
Meant to be shared
As a kiss to the Beloved.
4 comments
Kathie, I am sure we can all relate to the intimidation of a blank page/screen and the desire for some inspiration to come. It can truly feel very daunting, can’t it? Yet in being brave enough to journal your thoughts, you discover hidden manna just waiting for its day to become “a kiss to the Beloved” as well as sustenance for others. I’m intrigued by the way God so often draws us back in order to move us forward. Unfinished business remains within the pages of our notepads and journals. It’s exciting to see where and what He will guide our attention to next! All is fodder for a writer. A lovely, encouraging poem. Thank you! 🙂 x
I’ve journaled my thoughts almost every day for the past 30 years. I absolutely could not live without the discipline of writing and the insight and healing that flows from it. But sharing my sacred thoughts with others is not easy. I think of Jesus admonition not to cast pearls before swine. It is an act of faith and trust when I release writing that is deep and personal, the only kind worth reading!
Kathie, I also recognise the fear of the blank page and the desire to write something meaningful and significant. But you are absolutely right to help me correct my eyes out of the web and back towards the beloved. Thank you. And thank you too for the introduction to the lyrics of this song which are just what I needed today. All Blessings.
“meant to be”: keep getting it all down, moving the words around, Kathie—”awaiting/revisiting. . . trickling . . . splashing . . . reverently . . . take on such a call”