Sunday, April 24, 2016

Backspace: A Poem

Today is a special day. Nearly two years ago, I started Word Storm, and this, my friends, is my 50th post! Woohoo!

I’d like to thank my mom for getting me that book on journalism that started me on blogging, my friend Sarah for encouraging me to start a new blog, my fellow-blogger and critique partner Faith, and all of my lovely readers. So thank you for putting up with my crazy book-ish ramblings thus far.

Due to excessive coursework, I’m going to take next month off blogging. *gasp* How could I? Stated simply, I have to write two major essays and a dissertation (a.k.a. a master’s thesis). In all, these assignments amount to nearly 25,000 words and have the same amount of stress as your average NaNoWriMo project, if not more. But I have a special post already written and hope to see you back for my regulars posts in June. 

And now, for a poem. This one’s pretty simple. I wrote it for fun one day when contemplating one of the most-pressed keys on the keyboard. Whether you’re a writer by trade, a find-and-peck expert, or someone who occasionally uses a computer, you’ve likely encountered this key before…



Backspace

A writer’s favorite key with a very distinctive sound;
don’t you just adore the moments you’re watching a movie
with a writer at work, and you hear the unmistakable click
of a backspace? How do you know? Is it the twisted anger
or the constant pound Pound. POUND. POUND! POUND!
all in succession that gives it away. Let me hand out
this particular key like a prankster passes out pins in
a theme park to pop children’s balloons—pop Pop. POP. POP! POP!
—first it’s startling, terrifying, the imminent destruction
of hard-earned, cheek-blown rubber destroyed in a matter
of seconds. It’s like running up the down escalator—
with each brilliant idea comes twenty regrets
tumbling one after the other all dragging you down, down, down.
Remember the time you tripped up the stairs and bruised your knee?
Yep, that’s the humiliation of the Backspace,
erasing your splendid, stupid thoughts.

***

What was your worst run-in with the backspace? What's been your favorite post from this blog so far?

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