Write away. / My imagination takes flight, / a story starts to form, / characters begin to take shape. / My imagination takes flight, / plotting away. / Characters begin to take shape / in my mind. / Plotting away, / busy / in my mind. / Help!

A hearty welcome to Rue Arrow and her poem, 'My Prisoner, The Bug,' which she has generously agreed to let me share with you. You can check out more of Rue's work at ruearrow.com and at ruearrow.substack.com.

'It's a Gift, I Think' covers some (but certainly not all!) of the feelings that writers may experience. The feeling that what you're writing is stupid and that no one will ever want to read it. The fear of criticism. The confusion over why we're so drawn to writing (I'm not the only one who marvels at that, am I?). The desire to make a difference with the words that we are given...

Happiness seems to be slipping through Naomi’s outstretched hand like so many grains of elusive, shining sand...

Here's the gameplan: I'm going to write and share my first haibun below. Then, I'll break down the different aspects of writing your...