these words
do not
lead anywhere
other than
the bottom
of the last line.
this is just
a little space
for you
to move
through
something
slowly
amid
the rush
of everything else.
okay,
so I know
I contradicted
myself.
I said
the last few lines
were not leading
somewhere,
and then they did…
but, I promise
I was not trying to make them
go somewhere
as I was writing them.
I was simply writing them
and they became something.
and it became something.
became something,
became something…
what does it take
for something
to become something
some times
it takes a lot of something
other times,
very little
very little
very little
little steps
down
down
down
to the bottom
of the page
down
down
down
to the river
maybe
to write
a little
poem
line by line
is to
go
step
by
step
down
to
the
river
river
river
river
I just want
to go down
to the river
page
page
page
I just want to go down
to the end of the page
I feel very different
and very much the same
very different and very much the same.
I feel like a rock and the river beside it
I feel like a fear and a dream beside it
there’s yesterday and today beside it
there’s today and tomorrow beside it
there is a page written
and a blank page beside it
now there is this page written,
with a new page beside it
it’s the first of the month
it’s the first of the year for someone
it’s the last of something for someone
lives lived
lives that could be
we move through
down
down
down
we go
to rivers
mornings
and told you so’s,
to midnights
storms
and I don’t know’s
to bottom of
articles essays texts we go
to the bottom
to the end
of months and months
and then their beginnings beside them
to the end of pages we go we go
to their ends and new ones beside them
I wrote more lines than I meant to.
this is fine.
line
lines
line by line
down the page
down to the river
life has been happening the whole time
MHN
Thank you for reading! This is an excerpt from the final part of my 30-ish minute free writing session this morning…at first, it was meant to be a little humorous to myself, as I was just trying to stay “creative” and write for 30 minutes, but it ended up becoming something where that has some lines in it that I thought might be worth sharing. So if you happen to find any of it meaningful, I hope you feel free to carry it with you. – Morgan Harper Nichols (MHN)
