Good Riddance: The Line is a Living Thing

On learning to trust your hands again, writing through aftermaths, and wisdom from Diane di Prima.

Jun 07, 2025

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Amber writes on a piece of paper on her desk. The photo is taken from an angle, so you only see her hand holding the pen and writing and not the rest of her body or face.

Welcome back to our weekly series, Good Riddance, where every Saturday we gather in the comments to let something go from the week before.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the late poet and feminist icon, Diane di Prima, who I was lucky enough to know for many years. If I ever called her landline while she was out, I would be treated to the answering machine recording of her reciting a short poem she had written featuring these words: Let the hand shake. The line is a living thing. As much as I’ve thought about Diane over the last several years, I’ve thought about these words of hers more. I’ve returned to them as a kind of mantra on writing and all the fear that comes with it—how the actual process of writing poetry can feel so unnerving, shaky, imperfect, and that maybe that’s the way it's supposed to be. It’s okay to be unsure of your own handwriting, your own process, even your own voice at times, as long as you do it anyway; Write the poem.

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