You’ve got to write it all down

Anthony Wilson, , , ,

The unexamined life’s no different from
                                                                          the examined life—
Unanswerable questions, small talk,
Unprovable theorems, long-abandoned arguments—
You’ve got to write it all down.
Landscape or waterscape, light-length on evergreen, dark sidebar   
Of evening,
                       you’ve got to write it down.
Memory’s handkerchief, death’s dream and automobile,
God’s sleep,
                       you’ve still got to write it down,
Moon half-empty, moon half-full,
Night starless and egoless, night blood-black and prayer-black,   
Spider at work between the hedges,
Last bird call,
                           toad in a damp place, tree frog in a dry …

from Black Zodiac, by Charles Wright

A pause for thought, or not even thought, this week. Not even reflection. Not even crying -though that would be good. A pause for space. For doodling on it, staring into it. As a friend once said to me, a space, a moment, of ‘ungiving’. Which, apart from other things, will mean an absence from screens. So I am not going to say too much here, other than I am still struggling, and to cope with that I am going to have some time away for a while, not a massive while, I hope, but a long enough while for me to recuperate, recharge, maybe read a little, and definitely ‘write it all down’ somewhere. I will see you when I see you, when I have healed into time and other people. As ever with deep thanks for your support.

Anthony.

Published by Anthony Wilson

I am a lecturer, poet and writing tutor. I work in teacher and medical education at the University of Exeter. My anthology Lifesaving Poems was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2015. In 2012 I published Riddance (Worple Press), a collection of poems, and Love for Now (Impress Books), a memoir, about my experience of cancer. The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, is available now from Blue Diode Publishing. My current research project, funded by the Foyle Foundation, is Young Poets' Stories: https://youngpoetsstories.com/. This blog is archived by the British Library.

16 Comments

  2. I hope you have a fine journal to hand and a sharpened pencil at the ready so that when the time is right you can ‘ …….. write it down’.
    All best
    Julia K

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. Dear Anthony, wellwishing you time in a change of life for rest and getting by and letting writing down go and come as it needs and you need. Linda.

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Anthony …take that time you need to breath and to enjoy the silence and the peace around you.. let it hold you in its arms.

    Thank you for giving us you x

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Always appreciate your emails: choice of poetry, wonderings, stimulating insights … thank you. Be gentle with yourself for a while (well, always, but now particularly); rest, and put yourself into places and relationships and situations of healing.

    Liked by 1 person

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  16. Thank you for sharing this wonderful poem, Anthony, especially at in times like these. I think everyone is struggling and finding it hard to be hopeful. Wishing you well, and wishing you hope.
    Jean

    Liked by 1 person

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