(Poem) Drowning As A Cure For Thirst

This week I share another poem from my upcoming chapbook, exclusively for subscribers.

Drowning As A Cure For Thirst

—-

the quiet makes a home
here, at the nape of my neck

only to welcome something sharp.

i swear i had a voice, once.
but it is lost to the idea

that only the first sentence really matters.

what is this silence i have become?
yet another refuge

lost to a darkening sea:

a new tremble, bleeding
from the centre of my palm.

—-

For the last few weeks I’ve been writing a new chapbook for 2022, as a follow up for this year’s The Things We Leave Behind. That particular book was written during the course of the UK’s first and second COVID-19 lockdowns, and while the subject matter was difficult to process, the poems themselves came quite easily.

This second chapbook has been much more difficult to write, and I’ve only managed to write around half of it in the same time it took me to finish the previous collection. Partly, this is because I’m writing a lot about my mental health, and in particular the struggles I’ve faced over the last year.

But it’s also because, for the first time in years, I’ve been suffering from writer’s block. I know this is an issue all writers have to deal with, but it’s not something I usually suffer from. Writing has always been a cathartic process for me - something that allows me to bring a sense of meaning and purpose into my life. Having to wrestle these poems into existence has been especially hard recently, at a time when I’m also struggling with anxiety.

So, this is a poem about being unable to write poems.

The title comes from the idea that I’m trying to write to overcome an inability to write; a paradoxical process that is filled with fear, uncertainty and self-doubt. I hope maybe this topic will resonate with some of you, and perhaps you’d share your tips for overcoming this issue in the comments.

I am determined to finish this collection, however, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all next year. I’m also very much looking forward to the release of Murmuration, which is just over two months away. If you haven’t already, please consider pre-ordering it, as these early orders really make a difference to how likely retailers are to stock it. I’ll include some links below.

As always, thank you for your continued support. I don’t know what my life would be without you.

Yours,

Blake

—-

Pre-Order Murmuration

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You can also pre-order through your Amazon in your own country, and from most online and physical book retailers.