Marsha Campbell
Marsha Campbell's work appears in Exquisite Corpse, Worc, Athena Incognito, and The Baltimore Sun. She studies painting, drawing, and vocal harmonies in San Francisco.
WORKING NOTES, MARSHA CAMPBELL:
To write this poem, I had to tell myself to lie still in the bed and
listen
for just the right line or word to come out of the air. I had to force myself because there were so many easy flippant wrong lines. But I had to be still and listen late at night or early in the morning. And then, still half asleep, get myself the proverbial pen and paper and write down my perception. Sometimes I would fall asleep at my desk and do this, too: Dream a line and snap myself into wakefulness.
After I had all the lines, I needed to arrange them, not especially chronologically, but so as to both make sense and draw meaning and feeling. It took me several months to bring this poem to completion because I cared so much for the writing and for the person, which gave me both discouragement and stimulus.
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