Cooties!!!

Shifting blame is socially contagious.

IOW, if you can't say something nice, STFU -- or just invent something nice to say -- lest it come right back at ya. Because if you start it, it will come back, every time.

Gossip is about getting in between other people. Gossip is about stopping other people from getting together without you in the middle.

I think when we're writing with as much truth as we can, the form, meter, content and all that will just fit. We have to work to find the truth, the story, the reason we write, the project we're on about.

Part of that work is to try on others' truths and methods, discard what doesn't work, evolve what does, and do the hard work required to more fully understand one's personal project.

My project, my imaginary novel, is about wolves. It starts at that moment when you drop off the cliff, abandon the gray cubicle, leave home. It howls and eats meat, growls and yips, makes astonishing tracks in the snow; and its muzzle is absurdly silly looking when coated in rabbit fur.

It happens — the drop off the cliff happens — after you are done with politics and done with purpose. It fucking hates the word "should" and loves "could".

The ones with well-
rehearsed souls and
smiles that didn't
crinkle, who wiped
their egos on my
dignity — Oh, how
they once, twice
scared the pity
out of me.

Another Adopt-A-Poem Day

This: Lullaby for the Woman Who Walks into the Sea.