Desert Dweller

A friend asked me
what my writing routine is,
and I gave my pat answer:
I don’t have one.

Then
I couldn’t stop thinking about it
and felt compelled
to write down
my thoughts.

I don’t sit at a desk
with a leather journal
and fountain pen
or walk to a studio
in the woods.

But at least once a day,
I am compelled
to scribble on a notebook
or tap a few words
on the keyboard.

I guess I do
have a writing habit.

If I go a day without writing,
I feel queasy,
an ache in my bones,
a vague sense of unrest,
needy—
unlike a heroin user in withdrawal—
yet…

I wonder
at the physiology
of that sort of habit.
Are there hits of dopamine
in the friction of pen on paper?

Writing calms real-world panic
and soothes my spirit
like a warm cup of chamomile tea.

Does that make me an addict?

© 2026 Bruno Talerico
23/365