Shadows Someplace

I’ve had a lot of folks tell me that my work is dark, in a way that makes me wonder if they think I don’t know. But darkness is absolutely the point. I often think of it like an ancient fable I grew up hearing. You might be familiar. In it, a holy man exorcises some dude’s demons and sends them into a herd of swine — who then drown themselves. Good for the guy, I guess, not so great for the pigs. In a metaphorical sense, I guess you gotta cast your shadows someplace. People have all sorts of reasons to make art. Some are aesthetically motivated, others for fun, some want to make a statement. But I’m basically just looking to get the tough stuff out of my head and out on a page. Everything I do, from pictures to words, is like a kind of emotional exorcism. I wouldn’t be happy otherwise. Some folks pay a psychiatrist, but I couldn’t afford it, so I enlisted you in that role and had you pay me. It’s a clever little scam that writers are running. Tricking you into listening.

February 22, 2026
Delaps Cove, Nova Scotia

Year 19, Day 6678 of my daily journal.