Haiku To Save The World

I've spent much of this weekend following news of what happened in Charlottesville when a group of terrorists showed up with weapons and lit torches, obviously intent on intimidating those who saw and heard them.  They said they came to peaceably protest the removal of a confederate monument, a statue of a long-dead war criminal.  They said they were protected by the First Amendment and they were, but so were those who showed up to counter their protest, to call them what they are - racist neanderthals with a racist neanderthal agenda.  These peaceable racists showed their true colors (pun inevitable) when they were challenged and responded to the challenge in violence that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries.  And isn't that the earmark of ruthless tyrants and playground bullies alike?  They can't say their peace rationally, using words, so they turn their self-righteous, self-interested rage into blood and destruction.  I've been watching the protests and counter protests, the vigils and the politicians' photo ops.  I've been asking myself what I can do that matters.  It isn't much, but I can use my blog and my voice to set things right.  I am, among other things, a poet.  I like haiku, so I've written one.  

Now, I invite you to do the same.  Let's fill this page with haiku that let the bigots know we will not stand by, mute, as they try to destroy what remains of democracy.  Send your haiku to me at StephanieMesler@gmail.com.  If it fits the parameters laid out here, I'll share it on this page.  

1.  Must be an actual haiku by some well-known definition.

2. Must respond to the events in Charlottesville.  

3.  Must not be PRO- racist.  

Welcome to Drafted!

I know writers who do this thing daily for hours on end.  They are focused, driven.  Many of them love every moment they spend at their craft; others are more tortured.  Me?  I am neither of those.  I love writing when I do it and I don't do it when I don't love it.  The result is that my life is a timeline of literarily fertile periods alternating with infertile times.  These periods of fertility can last anywhere from weeks to years, as can the infertile ones.  I am just coming out of a dry spell, during which I tried once or twice to force the issue, to make myself sit down at the keyboard and create, but never managed to produce more than a few paragraphs of uninspired drivel.  Now, I am ready to write again.  How do I know?  Because I have awakened several mornings lately thinking about my characters and their stories.  Because I am able finally to clear some time in the calendar for doing the work.  Of course, I was always able to do that; I just didn't.  Now I have done so and that is another sign I am ready to write.

Fresh fertility I think warrants a fresh blog.  Welcome to Drafted!  Here, I will write about writing and share links to what I write, much of which will be shared free of charge.  I hope you will follow me here and check in frequently to keep up with what's cooking on my laptop.