Feature: Marc Mannheimer Day 5

the crust

the plains,
where the wind and
the wild coyote
meet in Outbreath,
crow, crack of night,
hackle,
HOWL –
the crust of the Earth knows these places.

and the tides that sweep
over and retreat
that wash over us,
inside of us,
granting release
from our silt, from our shock,
they are known in their own way as well.

we know not where we go;
we see not the underlying,
its movements, its rising even unto malady,
nor its Holographic healing,
the science for our times.

but we will be pushed
as far as a man or woman can be pushed,
into the plains to fend for ourselves,
into the sea to sink or swim;
we will feign escape what the crust
offers us as fate
--the path of least resistance
--the path of insurmountable struggle,
--the path of waiting, of letting go and letting be,
of grace and singing for the unsheltered.

© Marc Mannheimer

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Q&A

Q: Who are your favorite writers/poets?

Well, my proxy teacher Natalie Goldberg. I’ve been digesting her “Writing Down the Bones” for months. But poets? – William Carlos Williams may be my all-time favorite, Kenneth Rexroth, Pablo Neruda, Lorca, Dylan Thomas. I had never read Dylan Thomas until a couple of months ago. He surprised me by being so modern.

Q: How do you deal with writer's block (any tricks to keep yourself writing)?

A: By reading Natalie Goldberg, by doing her free-writing exercise. I have a history of mother-transferences – I think I need a Mom to tell me it’s okay, and to just sit down and write a page. “No editing!”

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Photo © Marc Mannheimer