I believe in the tortured artist, the suffering writer,
creator of truth and beauty.
I believe in words great and lasting,
which are conceived by heartache
and born of rejection.
They suffer under anxiety,
are depressed, insecure, addicted;
they descend into despondency.
In their revision they rise to power.
They ascend into canon
and stand among Steinbeck and Shakespeare.
From there they comfort and guide the living.