Holy Week continues, as does National Poetry Month…as does our shared quarantine. I think it is the perfect day to feature again Anneliese Myers. She is a talented, young poet who is also a friend and colleague with whom I served at Yakima Covenant Church. The breezy, whimsical quality of her work is easily matched by its heft. I hope you enjoy this as much as I.

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10,000 Reasons

So, I’ve written

10,000 words this week –

give or take.

It took thirty-eight-twenty-nine

to critique maps

hanging in dusty classroom 178.

 

Nine-eighty-one

summarized articles

about dead people and

outdated techniques;

forty-two-sixty-three

proposed research that,

once I get my degree,

no one will see.

 

The other –

thousandish? –

replied to a fraction

of e-mails received.

So, I thought, maybe now

I could write a word

 

to You.

But I’m tired,

uninspired,

and can write nothing new.

If only You gave deadlines

or promised feedback.

If only my heart moved against

the courage I lack.

 

-©Anneliese Myers

Anneliese Myers is a wife and graduate student in Yakima, WA. While pursuing a Master’s degree in Biology, she still finds time to write, looking for inspiration in her faith, family, and the beautiful Cascade mountains where her field work takes place.