Narrow Windows of Writing Time

It's the time of year when I have to hold fiercely to the idea that at some point, I will have time to write again.  I have lots of end-of-term grading and paperwork to do, at the same time that my administrator life presents me with a crowded month of May.  I have whisps of inspirations.  Let me record some of them.

--I've been writing my menopausal Jesus poem.  I used the idea that humans have an idolatrous devotion to the gender binary.  I have spent much of my adult life trying to use gender neutral language for both God and non-specific humans.  So I'll use spouse instead of wife/husband and Creator God instead of Father God.  But when it comes to writing about Jesus in a specifically female way, I'm wrestling with pronoun use.  I feel like I should explore this idea more deeply--and yet, the idea of pronouns tires me, even as I realize that our use of pronouns can be very repressive.

--I've been thinking about this post that I wrote about my phone interview with FEMA.  I've been thinking about a short story I might write, in the shape of an interview, questions that have a few standard multiple choice answers and one answer that gives deeper insight.  Hmmm.  Can I do that for each and every question?  Will it work as a story?  Today I'll spend time proctoring an exam and I'll need some reading material.  I'll take Leslie Pietrzyk's This Angel on My Chest and be inspired by the different approaches she takes to the short story.

--I was inspired by Oliver de la Paz's poem "Autism Screening Questionnaire — Speech and Language Delay" which made me think about writing up my idea as a poem.  I think it might be too lengthy.  It wouldn't hurt to try it both ways--a longer short story which is pared down into a poem.

--Let me remember the short story I started that tells the story of the for-profit art school through the eyes of the cleaning crew.  Maybe I can use this week between online classes to blast that one to the finish line.

It's frustrating to have such narrow windows of writing time--not to mention not having much time for other creative pursuits.  But let me persevere.

Now, out into the windy morning for a walk to watch the sun rise.