When it rains or Sometimes life throws you a bone

I mentioned before that I hadn't written since June last year.

But recently, Life stepped up to bring back out the writer in me. Mummy turned 60 on Sunday, and they're having a big to-do on Saturday. I can't be there because I have to work. The school year in Japan, and other parts of the Far East, ends in March, so it's Graduation season. And as a teacher, you kind of can't skip Graduation.

For all the misunderstanding that my family and friends can do, everybody knows I'm a writer. And a linguist. You need something written or translated, Claire's your girl. I guess it all started with Granny's funeral. I wrote 2 poems. The funeral home made one into a bookmark, and I read the other at the service. And then, somehow, I got into the dubious business of writing funeral poems...

So my brother asked me to write a poem.

I made him no promises. After all, it's been 9 months since I've written. I mean I was pretty sure I still had IT. I just wasn't sure where IT was. So I sat down with pen and paper. And with my keyboard. A couple of times. Nothing happened.

And then Mummy was all like, "Write me a poem, and I'll make bookmarks for the party."

And I was like, "Ick!" I couldn't guarantee anything. But the thing is, when your mother asks you to do something on her 60th birthday, you pretty much have to try.

I stopped trying to write for a while and just let the ideas float around my mind. Today was the graduation ceremony at Junior High. It was my last graduation as a teacher at that school. I was determined not to cry. So, I pulled out my Italian notebook, and started to scribble to distract myself.

"Mother"

And then it just flowed. I wrote that poem. Then another. Then another.

And then I wrote a super-specific poem. One of my trademarks - a poem that makes everyone in the room go, "Yep, that's that person, all right."

And then, I wrote my very first poem IN JAPANESE.

Seriously, that's how much of a roll I was on. When it rains, it pours.

I'm still up to my ears in Japanese study. And I'm now trying to reclaim my French as well. I want to complete my TEFL, since it's paid-for. And I still have a very full social plate. So it's not like I'm miraculously going to start dedicated every waking minute to the literary craft.

But I'm getting back to being a writer. And I'm beginning to find the balance between that and everything else.

It will only get better from here.