challenges and valleys

it's a dreary rainy day today here in austin and the humidity is evidently as high as my curly hair. a grief induced headache finally disappeared this morning after a nice long visit to the chiropractor. visions of annihilating cancer cells dance through my brain as another one loved is diagnosed with the disease from hell (i imagine grabbing them and smashing them on a wall like rotten tomatoes, or whacking them with a giant mallet, or shooting them out of the sky with an ak 47, or decapitating them with a great heavy sword, or....) sorrow and depression grabbed me this weekend despite the lovely setting i was in (a house over looking the lake); and i couldn't write.

when i was in the throws of my strange 2 month illness, brie challenged me to keep writing from that place. it felt as if nothing good could come from my wearied fingers but i kept writing.

last week i decided to challenge myself to a poem a day for a week. i will start today and end sunday. even though this is not the best place to write from, i'll give it a try. life will always hand you sandpaper when you wanted linoleum. there will always be grey days when you wanted shiny ones. a poem a day. for a week. we shall see what will come. quantity produces quality? at least there will be quantity.