A thought comes in — I catch it. Give it shape before it fades. Write it down — begin it now. Make a plan and make it real. One thing done — another starts. Pull the thread and find three more. Put them on the list beside everything I had before. I could do this. I could change that. Wait — there's something better still. Write it down before I lose it. Don't forget it. Don't sit still. Fix the little thing that's broken. While I'm there, improve the rest. One more line and one more measure. One more try to make it best. The list gets longer. The hours get shorter. The night gets thinner. The thoughts get louder. I finish one, I find another. I chase the next before the last can settle. Four in the morning. The screen goes dark. And for a moment, I don't know what to do with that. I reach for one more thing to finish. I stop. I look around. Nothing is waiting. There's always been another waiting somewhere in my mind. Another thought. Another answer. Another little piece of time I could turn into something. But maybe I don't have to. I lie down without a reason. Leave the unfinished where it lies. No list beside me. No tomorrow to arrange. No need to chase the next idea. Just breathing in the dark. A thought comes by. I don't reach for it. Another follows. I let it drift. Not every spark must become a fire. Not every thought needs somewhere to go. Not every door needs to be opened just because I found it. The list can wait. The work can wait. Tomorrow can have tomorrow. For once, I let the night remain unfinished.
