Thursday, May 11

kafuffle

My desk and work tables reflect -- are, perhaps, an objective correlative for -- the scramble of my mind and my manuscripts. Every surface is covered by odd scraps of paper, dictionaries for several languages, half-empty cups of cold coffee or tea, computer disks, clips and staplers, long-buried pencils and pens, temporarily abandoned projects, file folders, unmarked calendars. Of course I keep promising that I'll get back to tidy them up; frankly, I must admit that I hope that all this kafuffle never gets cleared up -- not, at least, until the kafuffle on my worksheets produces one or two more sparkles.

-- W.D. Snodgrass, in "In the Studio" from American Poetry Review 35:3