Fallen Gypsy

Going after a dream has a price. It may mean abandoning our habits, it may make us go through hardships, or it may lead us to disappointment. But however costly it may be, it is never as high as the price paid by people who didn’t live.

I would encourage younger writers to read, read, and read. You just can’t poop without eating. It’s a lovely and necessary cycle. I would also advise them to not always listen to teachers. They are smart and often understanding, but they are also human and flawed. And for god’s sakes, don’t write every day. That’s the worst advice I’ve been given. What a terrible thing to advise a poet. To write every day is to pry apart, on a daily basis, the mind’s most terrible crevices. You can trick yourself into believing it is a herculean act, nearly crusade-like. But one can only burn at both ends for so long. Save the poems, let them grow inside you, like a pregnancy, and when the water breaks, nothing can stop it. Also, there’s no such thing as writer’s block [so] don’t sell yourself short with such an excuse. If you have nothing to say, put down the pen, go outside, and fling yourself into the world. It’s waiting for you.

If you want a happy ending, it depends on where you stop the story.