The ancient Roman poet Catullus wrote, “odi et amo.” (“I hate and I love.”) He was writing about his promiscuous girlfriend Clodia, but for many years he could not end their relationship. Finally, they separated and he loved and hated to write about their tumultuous affair in some of ancient Rome’s best lyric poetry.

Have you ever hated and loved simultaneously? Some modern writers feel that way about their vocation. Author William Styran says, “Let’s face it; writing is hell.” Still, writers have something to say, and they love to have their audience hear it.

All control the words they put on paper. It is a responsible misson while in isolation. Susan Sontag says, “Writing requires huge amounts of solitude.” Also, Stephen King never would suggest that he was not responsible for a poor paragraph. In fact, the “Master of Macabre” wrote, “I’m a salami writer. I try to write good salami, but salami is salami. You can’t sell it as caviar.”

Where am I in all this? Invited to submit a weekly entry to The Current, I hesitated and then accepted. Paucity of subjects is not a problem. I could write about the impact of money, the act of self-deception, the fear of exposure, the wish for social status, the desire for revenge, the arrogance of entitlement, the desire for pity, etc.

So here goes. I shall give this project my best shot. “Jonny is safe at second and Flynn is hugging third,” and I am expected to hit a homerun. On the other hand, my intellect has been the goat of many jokes. Unfortunately, if King’s writing is salami, then mine is Hamburger Helper.

Morton Soule, of Portland, teaches the Latin language and literature at Cape Elizabeth High School. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College, earned a master’s degree from the University of Maine and completed 30 credits in post-master’s study at Boston University. He is a member of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, the Maine Sports Hall of Fame and the Bowdoin College Athletic Hall of Honor.