100 days of writing every day
Has certainly proved a challenge
Through fatigue and boredom
The day getting away from me
Or can’t get a moment’s peace
Total brain block 
Once, too filled with alcohol 
I have written
I have written of birds
But not swans
I have written of ships and shores and shoes
I have written of books
Of course I have written about my dog
I have journaled 
And made up stories
And repeated tales about fishin’
And I have written a spot of poetry this month
Because it is April
And April is for poets
And fools

I have written of love in almost every post
Whether it is about the aforementioned 
Or East Tennessee 
Or food or farmers or frogs
So if that is what you scrounge for
You should find it in nearly every post
I cannot
Will not
Stop writing
Even if it’s painful
Even if it’s revealing
Even though it’s no good
I can’t quit
Even if I wanted to
Once my mind is made up
I never could
Except guitar lessons
And maybe that’s why
Because I was a disappointment 
And I never wanted to be that again

Skin crawling
Cold
Short breaths 
Teeth chattering
Anxiety I suppose
Since I’m not on drugs
And I usually like rainy days
Desiring quiet in my head
But impossible with the sniffer
Who has stayed on the phone all but twenty minutes today
And I could not hear myself think
He coughed thirty nine times
In nineteen minutes
A reprieve tomorrow at last
If only I could sleep 
I could collect my racing thoughts
And methodically place them in rows
And package them neatly with tissue paper
Leaving out the most cherished ones
To enjoy regularly 
I have to stop naming favorites 
Because it leads to trauma

I don’t know 
But it did
And here we are
With a saddled bronc
Now to ride
No brakes
No clutch
No quit 
Because that’s how you get through 
Too bad it’s much longer than 8 seconds
Feels like 8 years
I need to lose myself in this book
Like some people lose themselves in a TV series
Or in another human

April Showers
Bring May flowers
…but what do Mayflowers bring?
Pilgrims! 
(Not sure if that’s a poem or just a joke, but it’s all I’ve got)

Love from Appalachia,
~Amy