Dear Readers,

It has been a bit more than eight years since “The Storming Bohemian” made its debut appearance in LitSeen, back in December of 2011. In the debut column, I rhetorically asked how do we avoid “a slide into the twilight world of indifference that means creative death?” Promising to write about ideas to avoid that slide, I assured my readers that I’d never advise them to flush their head down the toilet. And for nearly a decade, I have kept that promise.

The goal to inspire and instruct was a lofty one, and more than a little presumptuous. But I am proud of those early columns, which touched upon such matters as “The Miracle Of Daily Practice,” “Portray A Wizard For The Duration,” “Processing The Surface,” and “Let’s Hear It For Hero Worship.”

That first of three incarnations of this column continued through the Spring Equinox of 2013, finishing off with reflections on “The Dark Night Of The Artist’s Vocation” which was more cheerful than it sounds.

Then, three years later, in July of 2016, the second incarnation commenced on The Rumpus, in collaboration with my life partner (and eventually husband), Jim Lorenzato (aka Argyle C. Klopnick), who provided humorous illustrations. Those columns gradually morphed into something quite different than the original craft suggestions and attempts at inspiration, and began to bear witness to both my personal life with Klopnick, and my observations upon the effects of the ascendancy of The Great Trump Dump. Those columns included reflections on matters such as stability during times of turmoil (“Keep The Change“), planting a garden (“Spring Is Sprung“), and opening a joint checking account with my partner (“The Love Song for Argyle C. Klopnik“).

Incarnation two continued into 2017. Klopnik and I moved to a new home in Vallejo. Then he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in June of 2019. I had less than a year to grieve before COVID slipped through the gate and life froze. Needing a raft upon which to cling, I inaugurated incarnation number three: “The Storming Bohemia Punks The Muse: Covid Edition,” which went on to become the 2021 Edition.

And for the past several months, I have done my best to bear witness to the COVID event.

But now that the nation is “reopening,” I feel the urge to take a much-needed hiatus from weekly column writing.

But it is my hope to see LitSeen continue to publish highly personal columns of witness in response to the world today, as we move into the Post Covid/Post Trump era, which promises to be remarkable and different.

So, although this is the last “Punk The Muse” column (at least for the time being), I mean to “punt the muse” and pass the torch to other writers.

In the coming weeks, LitSeen founding editor Evan Karp and I will be working on a format for a continuing “column of witness,” and will eventually be seeking contributions for that project.

By the end of summer, we expect, a submission call shall go forth. Stand by.

Thank you for reading.

Now, onward!

With much love from your Storming Bohemian.