outstaring a blank wall
You stand before a wall.
It waits, blank as withheld breath.
What hovers over you?
Drafts unpinned,
stories unspoken,
videos sealed,
pages chasing horizons
that never arrive.
Perfection dithers—
a mask for delay.
What if you placed
one imperfect mark?
What if you let motion
carve its shape?
The wall gathers:
crooked sketches,
half-born concepts,
awkward stretches,
jokes collapsing mid-laugh.
Chaotic. Messy.
Unfit for display.
Yet weeks later—
fragments draw together,
a shape begins to inhale.
Not triumph,
but a quiet forming,
a world exhaling
what ‘til now was withheld.
.
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Author:
crypticbard (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: December 1st, 2025 05:10
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 8
- Users favorite of this poem: Tristan Robert Lange
Offline)
Comments6
I know - you had painted that wall and were watching the paint dry. You were going to watch 'Neighbours' but found that watching paint dry was 10 times more interesting. lol. Make that 100 times. heehee.
You know me too well! 🙏🏻🕊️
Cryptic this poem brought to mind the story of Bodhidharma and how he sat facing a wall for months waiting for one that would take his place of enlightenment. A poem that requires deep thought my friend
This may be the western equivalent of that journey to enlightenment. Thanks, Soren 🙏🏻🕊️
From your poems, I already thought you were enlightened
It just feels like a giant spotlight melting me like a snow cone 🍧 in Phoenix, AZ 🐦🔥
The poem revolves around the creative process and the struggle with perfectionism in art and self-expression. It explores the tension between the desire for a flawless outcome and the necessity of embracing imperfection as part of the creative journey. The subject matter delves into the emotions and thoughts that arise when faced with a blank slate—symbolized by the wall—highlighting the potential for growth and transformation that comes from accepting chaos and messiness in creation. Ultimately, it conveys that true artistry is not just about achieving perfection, but about the quiet evolution of ideas and the act of bringing them to life.
Yes, Friendship! That’s the absolute conveyance- the quiet evolutionary process of ideation into articulation 🕊️🙏🏻
You're so welcome, my friend, I try.❤️
🤩
arqios, this hits with quiet honesty…the dread of the blank wall turning into something living. You caught that moment when creation finally exhales. Breathtakingly well-written, my friend.🌹🖤🙏🕯️🐦⬛
Perhaps it’s what happens before the blank page ever becomes the onset of writer’s block (?) awesome tangent there, Tittu🕊️🙏🏻
With this I took the 'Blank Wall ' to be a Blank Sheet of Paper; awaiting the Words of a Poem to be written. A good Write.
Most insightful. Thanks, Kevin. Glad to have shared in the thought🕊️🙏🏻
That blank wall can have so many memories of what it has seen Rik and one will never know.
Andy
Hence necessitating the staring 😂🕊️🕊️
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