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I work through the things that are causing me pain. I go towards the pain through writing instead of avoiding it.

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I just closed my eyes and said to myself, write a sentence about what you see first. I opened my eyes and saw books stacked on a table. So I write: "If that stack of unread books falls then I'll gather them and restack them in some new randan order—and they'll go unread and beloved until they fall again."

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I'm excited to read the comments: I'm always looking for ideas.

I have two. The first one is seasonal, and has to do with gardening. Getting my hands in the soil I usually find myself on a thread that leads to a good first line (or something to riff off of). I suppose it could be any activity that lets your mind wander.

The second is journaling, kind of in the style of Basho. That is, writing down what is happening in my life till I come to a pause, and then try out a haiku that matches it. Usually the haiku then gets absorbed or is the catalyst for another poem.

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