Congested 

Brain freeze
during a five-minute
free write
at the beginning 
of class

like

sitting
in an empty
room
when
wifi cools
immediately after 
clicking search

cold air
blowing 
in your face
keeping
words chilling
outside 
your head

Dealing With Brain Freeze

Most of us have experienced some version of this.

A blank page. A ticking clock. A question that should be easy to answer. A search bar waiting for a search term.

Then nothing.

The harder you try to force a thought into existence, the farther away it seems. The connection is there one moment and gone the next, leaving you staring at an empty screen and wondering where all the words went.

Decongesting the Writer’s Block

I wrote this poem while experiencing writer’s block. Rather than fight it, I wrote about it. The struggle became the subject, and the room became the inspiration. The air conditioning, a little too loud and a little too cold, helped shape the image of words taunting me.

Check out Poetry Foundation’s cure for writer’s block for some good writing advice.