There is chaos that clings to my thoughts like algae on a river. I pull myself in many directions. I have ideas, so many ideas. Some glimmer, form and unform. Some make it into the world and take on a life of their own. Some retreat back to the dark spaces of my desk drawer.

This year, I want to bring more projects into the light.

This year, I want my creative waters to run clear.

Two dogs roam the room. I am their temporary keeper. They bark and bark, maddened at the movement of the birds. There are scratch marks on every door. Beyond that, an olive tree. Wherein, a magpie chases two blackbirds from the branches.

I woke up in a grassy paddock, on the edge of a beach. The nearest town has a name that I cannot remember. I’m in a backwater campground. The caretaker lives in an old Bedford truck. There are iron beams growing from the bonnet to a bedroom above. It’s a house on wheels with a sign hanging from her backdoor, “boss witch lives here.”

I drift. A life gets caught in a current and carried out to sea. Somewhere there are islands, inlets, landmasses. It takes an act of will to rowboat back to shore. Who among us has a boat? It is the way of least resistance to see where the waterflow will take me.

I am writing this in an oceanside café. The sun rises on the other side of the street. Hot water steams in a jug. The barista is busy serving takeaway customers. My bus will leave soon but I am ensconced by the cozy, corner table. There is so much to tell you.