E. Merwin's Blog: Being Books

Trolls and Subway Slashers…

With all the tales of trolls maliciously attacking authors on GR who seemed like New Yorkers on the subway, vulnerable to a random shove onto the tracks, a slashing or even gun shots without a cop in sight, I decided to get off the platform. But like the subway, GR provides a vital service. Where else can you engage a stranger in a conversation about a great book? And for those of us bored to death w social media yet still craving likeminded people, GR is a literary bazaar. And so I’ve reopened my account, and like a subway rider dealing with with the risk to benefit by the 24/7 freedom of movement, I’ll keep an eye out for the trolls while enjoying the freedom of shared ideas.

Skywriting

In the crib-- the room is dim-dark. I feel no fear, lying alone. And when my mom, breezes past and says, "Sweet dreams."--I see the elegant script letters in my mind.

To this day words unfurl in my mind like the message behind a skywriter's plane.

And I am equally content at their appearance.

Sitting on a bench, waiting for the train to work, I look out and still see words across the sky-- and in this way, the soul transcends the body.

And in this way, words literally raise the roof and create a space commensurate with the soul.

And when those words make their way through the mind, onto the page, into a book-- that is what I mean by books providing shelter for the soul--both for writer and reader.