A Writer's Notebook, Day Eight-Hundred-And--Eighty-Nine

I have been feeling very stuck, of late, not only in the ways I usually speak about, but in a creative sense.  I have been struggling to make progress within my work, to discover the ways to create work of certain types that I aim towards, and I often feel quite close to a breakthrough.  For example, I have been trying to get closer to personal matters, to the truth of things in my life, and to enrich my poems in certain ways.  There are moments when it feels simple and clear, but those are never the moments when I am writing.  I may have a clear idea of a poem, but the second it begins to get written down, it will change and feel less like what I had imagined it would be.  I am not certain, in those moments, whether the failure of memory is an inability to recall exactly what I wished to write, or in my initial impression of the work.  I know I will get there, not only in terms of this effort, but in a larger sense.  I believe it is a matter of doing the work and staying focused, but that does not mean it is not frustrating at times.

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