Writer’s Strike
By Niall Twohig
Isn’t it strange how the writing process mirrors the production process:
We’re given a model to fit.
We are taught to put the pieces together in the right order.
We work against the clock.
Our product is graded.
We’re fired or re-trained if our products don’t make the grade.
Even now they’re automating the process, with Chat GPT, so the writer just has to push a button to get the job done.
Where’s the soul in all this?
Stolen away.
Let’s leave the writing factory!
Go on strike!
Let’s sit in the sun
Listen to birds
and see what words flow from there—
maybe no words at all.
That silence is golden.