First Blush

Starting a new chapter feels sort of like the beginning of a new romance. There is that excitement and uncertainty as to what will happen. Everything is fresh and new. Each day brings a new discovery. Each day holds great possibility.

At the same time, there is a slight fear that things won't work out. That the bloom will fade and the ideas will wither. In "The Figure a Poem Makes," Robert Frost likens poetry to a love affair—"it begins in delight and ends in wisdom." I've had enough failed love affairs to know that sometimes that wisdom is gained at great cost to one's heart and soul. Writing anew courts that possibility.

The work. The work. I hope it will stay exciting and fulfill Frost's measure of a good poem: "Read it a hundred times: it will forever keep its freshness as a petal keeps its fragrance."