by Sarah Ruhl and from the Jan/Feb 2023 Poets & Writers.
Sometime I forget why I should keep writing. I hope you make a list of your own. Here is mine.
Write for God. The cave. The envelope.
Write for your mother. Your father. Your friend who is sick.
Write for the future. Write for the past. Write for the present, but sideways.
Write for the child who saw cruelty, and for those dispossessed of language.
Write for your daughter. Write for your son. If they don’t exist, write for the dream of them.
Write for your uncle to weep, for your aunt to laugh. For your babysitter to cover her face with recognition.
Write for the church you walked past with a sign that read: THEATER AT SACRAMENT. And you misread it as: THEATER AS SACRAMENT.
Write for the accountants whose eyes are too tired at night for numbers. For the farmers who grow your corn.
Write for your teachers. Write for every single hour they left off writing their own sentences so that they could read yours.
Write to thank the books you love.
Write for yourself.
Write for God. The cave. And the envelope.
Writing Fiction 