Maybe I Can
So many voices
I hear
when it’s time to write.
I sit staring at my monitor
listening to them.
They sound
like people I respect,
telling me
there’s no point
in trying.
Just stop
quit while you’ve
not embarrassed yourself.
Put your writing books
back on the shelf.
There’s other stuff
you need to be doing
that might be
worth something.
As the nay-sayers reach
near thunderous crescendo
I stop staring at my monitor,
close my eyes
to expel my
hissing internal audience,
take a deep breath
and start writing.
My resolve
to quiet the antagonists
to continue writing
is shored up by a simple
note to self
Maybe I Can
attached to my monitor.
©2009 by Shari Lynne Smothers
Write a title starting Maybe ___; then write a poem for that title. I chose to cover both. This is my poem for Day 4 of the 2009 November PAD Chapbook Challenge.
