Why I Write

One question I ponder with frequency is why I write. I imagine for many writers, the answer is similar to my own. I write because I don't feel like I am alive if I am not writing. I do not write because I want to impact the world so much as I write to understand the impact the world has on me. If that benefits my readers, then I am thankful that my journey could mean something to someone else.

A friend--we shall call her my partner in rhyme--tells her students that writing is a process. She even wrote a poem about it. For me, writing is both a process and how I process the overwhelming stimuli that bombards me on a daily basis. It is both illumination and catharsis.

If you have never read Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, then I highly recommend it. It resonates with me. I am the ancient mariner for whom time heavies the heart and sharing my story brings a temporary relief.

"Since then, at an uncertain hour,

That agony returns:

And till my ghastly tale is told,

This heart within me burns."

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

from Part VII

Rime of the Ancient Mariner on the Poetry Foundation

If you would like your own copy of Rime of the Ancient Mariner, check it out here on Amazon:

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

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