Catching a Wave

I don't think I was intended to be a morning person. Mornings have always been a struggle for me.

I know, I know. Morning is the best part of the day for the writer. Other concerns have not begun to intrude. The house is quiet. The brain is rested, ready to rev. Here's a whole new day beckoning.

But for me it's ... well, it's just morning. It takes me a little while to build some momentum.

I roll over, get one foot on the floor, then the other. I stand. I go teetering off in the general direction of the keyboard. I find the switch, flick it on.

By this time I have both eyes open. Things are starting to come into focus. And then, look out. Oh, look out! I'm starting to roll. I may be writing soon.

This one was first published in Capper's:

CATCHING A WAVE

Down the avenues of my early-morning

mind zooms a flood of crowded, honking

thoughts that seek a place to park.

I’m too tired to direct traffic, too stressed

to sort them out. That must wait till later,

tongue losing its taste of suede, on the

verge of talk. But then they’re gone, not

a thought in sight, not a word of that

early-morning roar. Perhaps tomorrow.

© 1999

***

Today's word: momentum

Afterthoughts ... in response to your comments:

Yes, Kelly, there are many times when those early-morning thoughts ... fodder for poems, I always hope ... converge to form a huge traffic jam. Then, later ...

Interesting, Helen, that a real morning person can also have the problem that I have ... "traffic" seems to start thinning out, and soon there's nothing in sight in either direction. That's my problem ... and there are times that I feel not only that I'm not a morning person, a fact well established over the years ... but that I'm not a midday person ... or even an evening person. But I keep plugging away, and try to ignore the time of day.