Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Andrew Marvell. Those of you who didn’t major in English are probably asking who the heck Andrew Marvel is. Why, he’s the English metaphysical poet (1621-1678) who looks kind of like Eric Idle of Monty Python fame. See?

Marvell wrote “To His Coy Mistress,” a carpe diem-themed poem I’ve always particularly liked, perhaps because there are several lines I can remember easily and can drop into conversations at those times that it’s fun to be able to quote poetry. Here are the lines that have been running through my mind of late:

But at my back I always hear
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near

Marvell was right–he lived only to 57. My birthday was last month, so I’ve been pondering time. There’s never enough of it. Seize-the-day poems are great for writers because they’re about deadlines, and we always have them. And that’s good. Without them, we might fool around looking for pictures of Andrew Marvell and Eric Idle and never actually do anything. There’s still so much I want to do.

It has been a busy year. We finally got the remodeling done on our house. I finished my first novel, THE QUETZAL’S TALE, and sent it out into the world. This month I’ve been writing a screenplay to submit for the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, the mailing deadline for which is May 1st, this Thursday. This is my first screenplay, and I have had a great time writing it and learning as I go. Now the deadline is upon me, and it’s not finished. But I will complete “The Bluejay’s Egg” and mail it off and be proud of myself for accomplishing another thing I’ve always dreamed of doing. Meanwhile, it’s back to work. I hear Time’s winged chariot.