Ask Baba Yaga: “One Morning I Am Emboldened and On Fire, But the Next I Am Choking in the Smoke”

Transcript after the jump.

Dear Baba Yaga,

I am so antsy always to begin but I constantly find myself shrouded in a fog and cannot find my way. One morning I am on fire and emboldened but the next I am lost and choking in the smoke. How do I find the quiet courage and patience to carry on when I am fumbling? How do I keep from losing the spark?

BABA YAGA: The spark will remain its lonesome self without( kindling. & strange;thing about kindling is the paltriness of its nature, the smallness & flimsiness of it. Courage and patience are too large&loud for what you are needing. Do not ask, of yourself such feats but feed the fire with little homelies first.

Previously: “Last Year I Met the Love of My Life Under Harrowing Circumstances”

Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. She’s taking questions on behalf of Baba Yaga at [email protected].