Another Call to Keep Writing Thanks to Nikki Giovanni

I love listening to Nikki Giovanni tell her story about her poem "A Bench (for Toni Morrison)." Today, as I read this poem to inspire my students to scribble a few words, it kicked my butt back into gear to write. After each of my failures to sustain a consistent writing habit, I inevitably receive a call to repentance. "A Bench" was mine today. (Poem all the way at the end of the post.)

Each time I pick up my pen from where and when I last dropped it, I tend to scratch out a few paragraphs (like these), often teeming with self-deprecating chastisement, and then I set a goal or two (usually one), and then I start anew in my quest to be a more consistent writer. As you now witness, my pitiful public penance is now penned (vomit-inducing alliteration very much intended this evening), and I get to move forward. However, this time I am not making any grand promises I know I will not be able to keep. I know that my professorial and ecclesiastical responsibilities reduce my personal time, but I do want to write more frequently. I now teach the Teaching Writing for Secondary English Teachers course at my university, and I know that I need to lead by example. I know that only writing produces text.

So here is my conundrum: I can squeeze in small chunks of time, but I need to be smart about where I direct my writing efforts. I have a few thoughts, but would genuinely appreciate some feedback from my teeny audience. (That's y'all.) Where should I direct my efforts?

Option A: random personal narratives and thoughts (as previously expressed on this blog and other random locations).

Option B: focus on more important life-defining moments in my personal history.

Option C: finish up the scraps of poetry I have been drafting over the past several years (or at least some of them).

Option D: look to write something professionally (teacher-practitioner style).

Option E: just write curriculum.

Option F: none of the above.

Let me know what you think, and I'll take Ms. Giovanni's advice. (Poem posted below.)

“A Bench” (for Toni Morrison)

benches aren’t just pieces of furniture

sure

we find them at rest stops where birds have stopped over

and truck drivers have pulled aside

to smoke a cigarette

(no matter how bad they are for you)

and yes

in fabulous museums we find

benches decorated sometimes

with gold or bronze

and the faces of the famous

sometimes we even find benches

among the poor

which are simply logs put across the other

or sometimes just bricks

piled and put deeply enough into the earth

to stabilize those who need comfort

 

but benches are actually

a metaphor

they are friends we call on sad days

they are two old ladies who bring

Duck Eggs when your Grandmother passes

 

they are a friend’s mother

who makes a quilt when she hears

you have lung cancer

and mostly they are the voice

on the other end of the phone

who says “Write”

when you are so sad at losing your mother

“Write” when you don’t know where to go

“Write” when the only person who can read you

is on a Cross

“Write”

because it is your job

“Write”

 

---Nikki Giovanni