I’ve been working on a chapter
That doesn’t come for a while
I’ve been pouring out these scenes
Because the characters make me smile
I have it on the page
Of a notebook of white blossoms
The character’s heavy. Hope’s erased
He’s feels he’s at rock bottom
Perhaps I’ve been at it
Because I know how he feels
Perhaps it’s easy
Because, to me, it feels real
In writing his pain
His strife. His tears.
I put him face to face
With what he most fears
Writing his agony
The rut where he’s stuck
Then writing his way out
How to help him look up
If he can somehow manage
To lift his weary head
In a world where he believes
Everything he loves is dead
Then perhaps, I to
Can rise up from defeat
And no longer wallow
At a world that looks bleak
There’s a powerful connection
Between an author and their character
You share each others’ pain
Help you come out for the better
So, I’ll continue to write
The small hope in his mind
That gets him to stand
sword in hand, he will rise
And though the doubts are there
Whispering his failures
This small speck of hope
Will shape his behaviors
Then, if he can do it
Why not I?
I could stand
And see the wonders of life
Though doubts will still be there
I’ve this speck of hope
To cling to and wield against
All that makes me mope
Like him, I’ll see it through
Make the unseen, seen
Because that’s what I’ve been working on
My most precious dream
nikki diekemper 