Burn it Down

I have to admit, the past week has been particularly difficult for writing. Extremes of emotion can generate sound bites and inciting phrases, but the kind of depression that feels like steel bands across your chest, really hampers the development and crafting process.  I have a page full of ideas, partial phrases, concepts, but each feels like a Pandora's box will burst open if I explore it.  It reminds me of a few lines in a Margaret Atwood poem 'It is dangerous to read newspapers';  'Each time I hit a key/on my electric typewriter/speaking of peaceful trees/another village explodes.'

During these in-betweens, I exercise my mind with crosswords, and read and listen to the poetry of others.  When the congestion becomes too much, it is time for the 'microprompts,' to release the pressure little by little.

One of my favorite Twitter sources is @hangtenstories, one word prompts for creating 10 word stories.   Today I responded to their last 4 prompts, (cascade, spark, familiar,words)  and discovered the resulting 4 stories fell neatly into a larger story, with a nod to W. B. Yeats in the second stanza.

Burn it Down

Bearing silent shame

hurts less

than listening to doubting words.

The familiar

will not suffice;

the center will not hold.

Righteous anger

silent or spoken

will cascade through every district.

A spark of outrage

can erupt

into a deadly backdraft.