The First Draft

I was listening to the Outer Cape radio station, WOMR, last week when ‘Uncle John’s Band’ by the Grateful Dead began playing. The opening lines of a poem popped into my head. After listening to the song a half dozen more times, I strung together this poetic take of what writing a first draft is like.

The First Draft

Ernie Stricsek ©

Well, the first words are the hardest words

When creating your first draft

You stare at a hummingbird

Versus working at your craft

Will they draw the reader in

Will my words be profound

Or will I sound crazy daft

At the end of my first draft

“A dark and stormy night”

Wait, why did I write that

How did such purple prose

Make it into the first draft

Words, words, words, words

I’m sounding like a hack

It’s only my first go round

So cut me some slack

A Thesaurus is in my hand

My face looks rather bland

“I’ve used first draft to many times”

My voice cracks and whines

Oh, this word fits good here

And these words look great there

Hot damn, I’m on a roll

Like a river, words flow