Lyric Prose |

on “Poems Not Written” —  a recurring feature On The Seawall

7 Minutes

I used to tell my creative writing students when they got stuck to write absolutely anything at all for seven minutes. I personally liked to start with the word Alleluia. (For the ells.) Recently I found out I have cancer in my spine — T4, T5, L3. What to write after that statement is a mystery to me. Alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia alleluia. My father once chased me down the street when I was fifteen for swearing at my brother. That’s when I started taking the train into the city on Saturdays to get away from everyone and everything I was expected to obey — parents, priests, my own scrupulous brain that raked me over the coals every chance it got. Fuck cancer. This paragraph took me a year and seven minutes to write. Alleluia.

Contributor
Maureen Seaton

Maureen Seaton has authored two dozen poetry collections, both solo and collaborative — most recently, Undersea (Jackleg Press, 2021) and Sweet World (CavanKerry Press, 2019), recipient of the Florida Book Award. Her honors include the Iowa Prize, Lambda Literary Awards for both poetry and memoir, the Audre Lorde Award, an NEA, and the Pushcart. Her work has appeared in Best American Poetry as well as numerous literary journals and anthologies. She was voted Best Miami Poet 2020 by The Miami New Times.

Posted in Lyric Prose

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