Poetry Month and A Break With Emily Dickinson

It's Poetry Month. It's also the month of sweet sweet showers. It's also the month of the day of fools. It's also autism awareness month. All of these things have to do with me, and so I am talking about them. I have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Not that it's a big deal as far as I'm concerned, I don't think it's severe enough for me to be considerably different from anyone else. I am saying that because now you are two sentences more aware of Autism. Congratulations.

As for Poetry Month, I didn't realize this was tradition, but my publisher told me about it. Apparently people write a poem every day for this month, and that's how you'll find me hopefully. I fell under a bit of a creative dry-spell for a while and only cured it with the composition of a short story last week. It was pretty tough going up until then with lines only coming in fits and starts. I am happy to say the concept of poetry month has re-energized my creative batteries and I've already composed a special dirty limerick for April Fool's Day. I am serious about my goal of writing a poem a day, but not only do I want to write a poem a day, I want to write a good poem a day. I've not succeeded to that end yet today, but I'm hoping that I can change that by the stroke of midnight. I better summon up my grace and get to the fashioning block- I only have a crappy haiku to show for my efforts today.

On a slightly more dour note: Readers, it seems I am in a lull regarding published material for now. Not that that's anything to weep or be sad over. I've seen nothing but rejection slips for my last 3 or 4 replies and I've only just yesterday submitted a couple of things to a couple of places. I trust that I am not speaking to an imaginary audience and so to that end I am posting these lines numbered 33 in The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson as edited by Thomas H. Johnson. I am one and the same recollecting and forgetting each and every one of you. I hope you're having a nice time during this publishing lull for me, wherever you are. I'll be back again as soon as I can with new horizons.

If recollecting were forgetting,
Then I remember not.
And if forgetting, recollecting,
How near I had forgot.
And if to miss, were merry,
And to mourn, were gay,
How very blithe the fingers
That gathered this, Today! 

Blue Hour Magazine [Op. 44]

My poem "Some People" has been published in Blue Hour Magazine. Be sure to look for it coming soon! No new updates as the last update was literally yesterday, but I am happy with the acceptance. More to come.

Collective Exile [Op. 43]

My latest published poem is featured in Collective Exile. It's called "The Mirandiad." In other poetic news, there's nothing much to say about either of my books at this point. I've changed the title of Scattered Beginnings to Early Harvest and still have to notify my editor. I'm going to do that after I finish posting this. My literary adventure has been very fruitful. I think things are going mighty fine. Also, I can't get into much detail, but another piece has been accepted and I will get the formal details of that acceptance soon here. Stay tuned, there are events in the offing.

The Weekenders Magazine [Op. 42]

I have a new poem getting published in The Weekenders Magazine on December 15th. Be sure to check that out after that date for the new poem. Also, I heard back from my publisher recently and I do believe I will receive a timeline come January about my poetry book, Scattered Beginnings, which should see release hopefully not long after. Also, I am back in the swing of submissions now so expect to see more in mags soon, although Duotrope is going to start charging for their services come January so I'm not sure exactly how long I'll still be in the submitting for magazines business. I will also likely be reading my mini-epic "The Mirandiad" at a social gathering soon. Lots of things are brewing. Stay tuned.

15 Minutes of Poetry... The Sequel (on Thanksgiving again)

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Op. 40 #'s 1-3 Picked Up in To The Roads

Hey everybody, hope you don't mind the absence for 3 months. I've been working on revising mostly and didn't get back to submitting things until more recently. I'm just here to tell you that three new poems have been picked up in a British publication called To The Roads entitled "Innocent Farmhand", "Silver", and "Wild Mantra Evening." I'm very pleased with these poems and hope that you will get to enjoy them as soon as possible. And now I'm off for another 3 months (hopefully not). For those of you who wonder what my humor looks like, check out my Twitter Page. Also, just to talk a little about my projects, I'm likely going to put up a free digital downloadable copy of my first two chapbooks plus some extras in the near future. Nothing is set in stone yet, but if such a thing happens you'll be the first to know besides me, and also the first to be able to download such content besides those who visit the publisher's website.

Pale Horse Review + Mario Mushroom Update [Op. 39]

Short update here today. It seems that three of my poems have been accepted for publication in Pale Horse Review. They gave me a very short acceptance letter but have promised a longer, more formal acceptance in the future. Details to come. Oh, and BTW, check this out.



Oh yeah, A.J. Jacobs, the author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically (one of my favorite books) has just liked my status update announcement regarding acceptance into Pale Horse Review. Awww yeah, Pale Horse, I think the ante has just been upped MOFO's!!! Now that's an update that just ate a Mario Mushroom! *flexes muscles* Update [26 July 2012]: Pale Horse has accepted one of my poems actually. It's called "An Ideal Evening" as it appears in there, but I've since changed it to "Tender Is The Night." It has received some heavy edits in print, but it should be out soon.