Once in a while, I encounter something online that ignites a spark of creativity.
That’s what happened in June, when Justin Carter, a writer and editor of the literary-magazine-that-looks-like-a-message-board Some Words, posted a challenge to writers on Twitter/X. Some of us were busy posting images of ourselves when we were 19. Many of us were working diligently at avoiding our writing by posting pics when Justin suggested we should instead “be writing poems about themselves at 19 & sending those poems to some words.”
Challenge accepted.
I spent that afternoon writing “Our Crisis of Confidence,” an impressionistic piece about my 19th year on this planet (November 1979-November 1980). It was a tumultuous time of high gas prices, stagflation, crisis with Iran, and a president that seemed to be fumbling everything he touched. Sound familiar? Plus ça change, as they say.
Here’s a peek at the intro:
OUR CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
We found ourselves at Jack’s house
most Friday nights. Saturdays, too.
We’d hand over a buck or two, if
we had it to spare, to help cover
the cost of beer. Jack was of age
and always had a keg on tap
in his extra fridge on the back porch,
stacks of red Solo cups on the adjacent card table.
Sometimes the beer was flat.
We didn’t care. We came
to escape our mundane fast-food jobs,
our junior-college lives, our worries
about the uncertain future. We wanted
The Cars on Jack’s stereo, letting us know
it was okay to let the good times roll, oh-oh.
***
My thanks to Justin for posting this challenge back in June, and for accepting this piece for publication.
