Forget About Hard

550 words | 6 min. audio — on walking the poet’s path

FORGET ABOUT HARD
On Walking the Poet’s Path
by Maja Apolonia Rodé 

What advice do you have as I embark
on a practice of writing
a poem a day?

I — Begin

Begin with

a container of time and space. 

Add a pen, some paper, and 

a simple commitment 

to listen. 

Then, 

plant yourself 

in the fertile ground

of just being 

here. 

Go the natural way,

where the sunlight of attention

and the deep, moist soil of

silence

mix with time 

to grow the seed and

unfold its fragrant petal-words

one by one by

one. 

Let go of 

making it hard. 

II — Walk Your Path

I know that

possibly-wise people have said

“Writing is supposed to be hard.”

But hard isn’t 

the right 

word 

in the 

unique

vocabulary

of your life experience. 

In the territory of your becoming, 

“hard” is not a fabulous or fruitful path.

Hard is not a sign that you’re

on the right road. 

The only kind of hard it takes

on the path you’re walking

is the kind that makes 

your creative

muscles

ache 

with

the

joyful

feeling of 

being well used. 

The only kind of hard it takes

is saying No to all the other invitations

that come fluttering through

for the time

being. 

The only kind of hard it takes

is the slow and patient loosening

of the thousand threads your

once-and-former self

spun into its quiet

cocoon

of becoming. 

The only kind of hard it takes

is patiently pecking away

at the critical shell

that protected 

your tender 

beauty 

until 

the inner 

and outer conditions 

were right for you 

to emerge.

The only kind of hard it takes 

is being willing to look like a fool 

for the choiceless sake 

of becoming 

real.

The only

kind of hard it takes 

is pausing in the unknown space, 

pregnant — and seemingly dependent 

on the merciful generosity of 

some unmerciful

muse. 

The only kind of hard it takes is

forgiving yourself and tracking back 

after you’ve faithfully followed

another

neon-lit path of trying 

all the way to its 

inevitable

dead 

end.

III — Follow What’s Real

Now, 

let me tell you the kind of hard

it doesn’t take:

It doesn’t take being unkind to yourself.

It doesn’t take cracking the whip

on your tired and teary-eyed

inner accomplisher. 

It doesn’t take squeezing yourself 

into a spine-misaligning mold

of “normal” and 

“should.”

And it doesn’t take using 

your not-so-thick skull

as a battering 

ram.

You don’t need

to follow The Path of Hard 

just because some other kind of poet said,

“No pain, no gain.”

Hard is not a sign that you are on the right road. 

But it’s not a sign that you are on

the wrong road

either. 

All “hard” means

is that you’re definitely in a game.

It doesn’t say anything about the score

or the stats or the skill or flow

or most importantly

whether you’re

in the right

game 

in the

First Place. 

Forget about hard.

Follow what’s 

real.

And

keep coming back

to that peaceful, easy feeling

of already standing on the beautiful ground

of being exactly where

you are.

And when you’re Here,

listen

for that quiet stream of meaning

that bubbles up from the

origin inside

you.

•

❤ 2019-2024 | Maja Apolonia Rodé

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