dreamworld

An unfinished novel is a tyrant. I’ve spent weeks (years, really) avoiding this novel but it MUST get done and today is the day I open the file and try to pick up where I left off. I hoped to finish Judah’s Tale over winter break, but instead I have dithered and written one essay and “Fox & Crow.” And because I need to be writing but am not, my sensitivity is growing and the littlest thing sets me dreaming. I ought to avoid Facebook if I want to get anything done, but instead it’s been feeding my imagination. Neesha posted this link to “22 Unbelievable Places” and this image of the Black Forest in Germany (photographer Andy Linden says it’s London—of course) makes me want to discard Judah’s Tale and write something medieval instead. Today For Harriet posted 5 poems by Black women; I’m ashamed to say I don’t read poetry often but I’m glad I took the time to read the first four poems. I stopped at this one by Audre Lorde, “A Woman Speaks,” and suspect I will end up using these 2 lines of verse in a book other than the one I’m determined to finish:

beware my smile

I am treacherous with old magic

Those lines make me think of Nyla and the djeli she finds in Senegal, but I have other characters who need my attention right now. The spring semester starts on Thursday; I have a full-day school visit tomorrow and five other presentations in February. My talk at Harvard is in a few weeks. But today I am giving Judah my attention because sometimes that’s all tyrants want—your undivided attention.

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