Nearly five years after writing ‘The Nil,’ I was in a very unique place in my life. I’d anticipated having some great success the previous year, in 1988, when I was 22. Alas, it was one of the most difficult years of my life. But I came through it in a good way, learning to find my own way and apply what talents I had with thoughtful determination. I continued writing and submitting poetry, and collected a lot of rejection slips. I also started writing a humor column for my college newspaper not too long after this date. But on this day, I wrote an answer to ‘The Nil.’
Answering The Nil
by Roger Darnell
A knock upon my door today
Has stirred me from my rest…
A shining light across the bay
Forewarns of fortune’s test.
Distracted boy, I find myself
Half-braced for somber call…
But in the half just off the shelf
Live embers of the fall.
Yet, once the changes are in place,
I’ll find my final form —
There, moving forth, I’ll pace my race
In shelter from the storm.
This day I wake to hear the knock
And see the blinding rays;
I’ll make a key to pick the lock
That binds up all my days.
Upon the bay I see a boat
A shape upon its bow…
I wave good-bye and bid it float
Its nothing off, for now.
