#Poetry #Flow #Writing

Awards: Silver Key (Scholastic Art and Writing Awards)

Intro: In the dead of night, the scratching of a quill echoes softly. Inspired by my father's passion writing, this piece illustrates the fervent dedication of a writer nearing the culmination of his life's work.

Tales of gods, of heroes, of loss, of reunion, stories from one world to another. Emotions and tears gush from what seemingly is nothing more than ink on paper. Stories yet untold, ideas yet undiscovered, conversations yet to be held… It’s a book.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, the sound of a quill flying seamlessly across a piece of paper.

A hunched back, arms ripping across the table, heaps of crumbled paper. The damp, moist, smell of a room left unattended. Draw closer and time seemingly halts its journey … the world slows.

In this space, only the man and his quill can be seen. Everything else vanishes, ceasing to exist. Thump, thump, thump, the man’s heart audibly beats as ideas soar past him. The man desperately reaches out, trying to grasp but one fleeting thought. Seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days. Years pass by.

The man finally looks up … the quill clatters onto the oak desk … for a moment, the holy silence breaks. His life, his deepest thoughts … his soul, all contained in a book. The book on his desk … his magnum opus. The book yearns to be opened, crying out to be read, waiting to talk to someone.