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Tell us about THE book, story, or poem that changed your life. The one that brought you to love words.
The love of reading, or the love of words is something writers share. Tell us about THE book, story, or poem that changed your life. Give us a synopsis of the piece, with the author and title. If you want to, tell us why we should read it if we already haven't. Only one rule: You can only pick ONE piece. Don't over think it -- pick the one piece that has stayed with you more than the others. We all have reads that we couldn't put down, and some we forged through even though it was painful. So tell us about the piece of literature that stays with you, that sparked your imagination, that made you want to put pen to paper and tell your stories, your words, your poetry. Fellow Prosers- Read through these posts as they (hopefully) come in. Is there a book you've read? Let us know in the comments. One you need to read? Let us know that, too. Let's interact and get a feel for what inspires us to give our words to the world.
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Iseun1
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Erik Campbell

“One afternoon in the summer of 1994 I was driving to work and I heard Garrison Keillor read Stephen Dunn’s poem ‘Tenderness’ on The Writer’s Almanac. After he finished the poem I pulled my car over and sat for some time. I had to. That is why I write poems. I want to make somebody else late for work.” - Erik Campbell

In short, it is my goal to write in this way also. When I read Erik Campbell's poems, I am so touched by his work. I read his work around midnight every night, when my mind is going at 100 mph, and everything is quiet except for the humming of my macbook and the dissonance in the way my fingers type. And after three or seven hours, depending on how desperate I was to produce something worth reading, I would finish. I could finally lay down and await the form rejection letter waiting in my inbox the next time I opened my eyes.

I want to write like Campbell. Like Dunn. Those kind of poems and stories that make you have to sit back and contemplate your life. Those kinds of poems that make you feel like you haven't read anything as good, nor will again, in a long time.

Until I get to that point, I have been trying to ease my heart and mind, telling myself that I still have a ways to go. Not everyone can be Stephen Dunn. Not everyone can write like Robert Frost, whose poems are almost over read. Neil Gaiman said that everyone has a story to tell, but what if you don't know how to tell stories? 

That's where my insomnia usually begins.

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