“Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity," wrote T.S. Eliot. To help make productive use of our self-isolation and social distancing, Lit Cleveland is offering free writing challenges each week via our newsletter. The following piece is a response to the "Nature in Words and Images" prompt.
The World Upside-down on Wade Lagoon
by John Zajc
I see the world this morning, upside down on the surface of Wade Lagoon.
My mind is in the moment, appreciating the gift.
Ha! You liar. You took photos to help remember how stoked you were to see the stillness, the reflection. But more so for brief adulation from others when you put them on Facebook. How they, too, will think it’s cool. And maybe think you are cool.
I envy that stillness.
Heck, yeah! A metaphor for your mind. All f-d up when it’s racing and reeling and how you wish I were quiet and still. Such peace and tranquility! Achieve inner peace!
My mind rushes over my thoughts, crashing together a wave of self-loathing, a wave of doubt, a wave of anger. A wave of judgment of others. Of pity.
A new wave, A-ha! One way or another, I can whip it (whip it good!). Hey, this photo might be once in a lifetime. The surface of the pond is almost shiny (happy people).
To keep my mind still as the wind. to reflect as clearly as the lagoon.
