How to Write

Mindy Lawrence

In order to write,

you must learn to

set words aside.

Leave them and find a trail.

Look at the path and walk down it.

Watch the birds in the trees and learn their songs.

Learn the trees’ names and the shapes of their leaves.

Talk to them.

Take a stick and walk with it as a brother.

Hear the rapids falling over rocks and see the sun on the water.

Remember the motions of the animals drinking.

Leave the trail behind and find a garden.

Learn to hoe.

Learn to plant.

Learn to tend.

Savor the harvest.

Learn the true taste of a tomato grown in the sun.

When you have done these things, go home.

Find a journal or a scrap of paper.

Sit and talk to the trail and the garden

As you write.