Conversation With The Paper Poem by Elizabeth Sheaffer

The blank page stares up from my desk
'Fill my lines with words, ' it whispers,
'fill me up; I dare you.'
Blinding white, blue lines
College-ruled, of course, more words fit on each page
I sit alone, open up my mind
Let the thoughts flow in and out
'Fill my lines with words, ' it whispers,
'fill me up; I dare you.'
But the ideas just aren't coming now
They haven't for some time
My thought process is too erratic
Inspiration is not mine.
'Fill me up; I dare you.'
College-ruled, of course, more space to haunt my thoughts
Blinding white, all those blue lines
Writer's cramp is no longer a concern for me
'Fill my lines with words, ' it whispers,
'fill me up; I dare you.'
'No, ' I'm begging, 'I just can't do it;
I don't know what to write.'
The blank page stares up from my desk
Contempt in every line
It opens up and swallows me whole
Forever trapped in my inadequacy.