Blinding Light, a Poem
John has many years of writing experience in poetry, short fiction and text for children's books. Basically, he just loves to write.
Bright light through columns
Pixabay Free Photos
Blinding Light
At times we all have problems
that we stress about for weeks.
Nowhere that we look or turn
Has the answers that we seek.
We ask our friends opinions
On stuff that we can share,
but for other things more personal
We need to look elsewhere.
For technical or "how-to?" help
We search the Google page,
But problems with our life or love
Require an inner mage.
Sometimes the answer's in our face
But we're too blind to see.
Worry steals our focus
From what is clear reality.
Writers often get a block,
Or their inspiration lacks.
They need something to prod their muse
To get them back on track
This book that I'm reviewing
For my series "Off the Shelf"
Explores that very common theme,
So, please read it for yourself.
The author's take is quite unique,
the hero's choice extreme,
To banish his long writer's block
And regain his self-esteem.
Sometimes we have to take a chance,
Brave the monsters of the night.
But, will you gladly risk it all
To see the blinding light.
Off the Shelf
The book I chose for this edition of Off the Shelf is a novel by New York Times best-selling author Paul Theroux called Blinding Light. In this novel, Theroux explores the problem of severe writer's block in a unique and rather extreme way.
From the back cover:
"Slade Steadman is the ultimate one-book wonder. His lone opus, published twenty years ago, was Trespassing, a cult classic about his travels through dozens of countries, slipping across national frontiers without the benefit of a passport.
With the help of his soon to be ex-girlfriend, Ava, in tow, he sets out for Ecuador's easternmost jungle in search of a rare hallucinogenic drug and what he hopes to be the cure for his writer's block."
The drug, once found, heightens both his powers of perception and his libido, but it also leaves him with an unfortunate side effect: periodic blindness. Unable to resist the insights that enable him to write again,
Will he regain his vision? His inspiration? His fame? Or will he forgo the world of his imagining and his ambition?
This book is an exciting read, especially for fellow writers.
© 2018 John Hansen
