One a Day
(Author Note: A challenge to writers, for Johnny Masuda)
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
My pal Masuda
told me in his usual
pithy way
“I’m telling all my friends
to write
one a day”
sounds easy enough
but so many distractions
like this cheap pencil
and how I hate holding it
and Howard Stern’s coming
back from commercials
in two minutes
so how am I supposed to write
poetry
and maybe even art
with a clock over my shoulder
but he didn’t say art
he didn’t even say poetry
he said
write one everyday
so I try
and nothing
comes
out
like an unproductive
bowel movement
frustration
desperation
muted anger
so what if I can’t
write one a day
perhaps there’s nothing
worth committing
the time or the energy to
I need blocks of time
luxurious slabs of
blank life
and no watchful eyes
and solitude
and my Invisible Man suit
to quietly observe
the external world
and my internal world
and perhaps I’ll have
an insight
or at least a subject
but as I come to the end
of this musing
I remember
that Masuda told me this
yesterday
and even if this was
to count as today’s
writing
I am still
already
a day behind.
told me in his usual
pithy way
“I’m telling all my friends
to write
one a day”
sounds easy enough
but so many distractions
like this cheap pencil
and how I hate holding it
and Howard Stern’s coming
back from commercials
in two minutes
so how am I supposed to write
poetry
and maybe even art
with a clock over my shoulder
but he didn’t say art
he didn’t even say poetry
he said
write one everyday
so I try
and nothing
comes
out
like an unproductive
bowel movement
frustration
desperation
muted anger
so what if I can’t
write one a day
perhaps there’s nothing
worth committing
the time or the energy to
I need blocks of time
luxurious slabs of
blank life
and no watchful eyes
and solitude
and my Invisible Man suit
to quietly observe
the external world
and my internal world
and perhaps I’ll have
an insight
or at least a subject
but as I come to the end
of this musing
I remember
that Masuda told me this
yesterday
and even if this was
to count as today’s
writing
I am still
already
a day behind.
