I discovered a feature on my good friend Windows 98, where by clicking the Properties (I capitalize in reverence) of a file, one might obtain some interesting statistics - if one considers such a thing interesting. Among them were amount of revisions and total editing time for each file, which proved useful in remembering past poetry.

For one particularly obsessive poem, I had revised on 272 separate occasions (as in 272 times sitting down to write, not 272 times hitting backspace), and my computer had housed the open file for 812 minutes. And while many of the ideas had promise, I still managed to disappoint myself, even after 13 hours. Nonetheless the progression from zero lines (not an unusual amount to begin a poem with), to fifty-plus long lines, to, with hesitation and then relief, twenty-some short and long lines, was experience worth the trouble.

Now, having thoroughly purged my deviantART page (leaving only a poem of someone else's words), and having completed the 2-day 15-hour portion of my AP testing, I have finally returned to writing. There were some ideas that had struggled against calculus and French for prominence in my mind, and now, in this post-exam universe - where instead of integrals and derivatives with Euler and L'Hôpital we do Internet crosswords with Mr. Davis (who was excited that today’s crossword had a math theme) - words have finally settled into verse. That verse may find deviantART, but I am not yet sure. The computer steals far too much of my time and I am trying to reverse that.

But overall I am glad to be done with the important piece of my exams/year, and am enjoying the idea of keeping past poems concealed in the non-Internet part of this computer. A sense of renewal, in a way.