This morning I read Jame’s Baldwin’s essay

 ”Stranger in the Village.” It was one of the best—if not the best—essays I’ve ever read. I can’t remember ever before being speechless from written words—only in cases of recited spoken word poetry. And while inspiring, the skill he displays gives me severe anxiety about the poem I’m working on. With an approaching deadline of February 21, I still have tons of work to do, and Baldwin’s essay serves as a goal I’m fearful of falling short of. I want to write not only competently but powerfully, and my formal idea for the poem is starting to seem too ambitious.