72º ~ some sun, some clouds ~ Spring 2019 = below normal temperatures and above normal rainfall, today appears to be an exception
Excerpt from “This Ritual”
I’ve re-committed to this blog after a year-and-a-half lapse. It turns out that building a conference from scratch (with a lot of help from a great team) and teaching 9 new courses over 3.5 years can wear a person out. I’m happy to have come out clean on the other side, and I’m proud of the conference and the courses. I continue to be enamored of my job at UCA and all of the opportunities it affords me. I am, however, looking forward to a return to a more balanced writing life.
Speaking of which…
I did manage to eke out revisions to about a dozen new poems since 2017, and I’m sending them around. In late 2018 and early this year, I was determined to secure an acceptance from a “top tier” magazine (mostly because I’m stubborn and want to prove that I can). I know my chances with The New Yorker or the Paris Review are slim to none, but I thought I’d at least have a chance with some of those august journals housed at universities, or those independents that publish poetry only.
Not so much. Nothing but the resounding “no” of polite rejections. Still, these are poems I believe in, poems that are necessary to me, and from responses when I’ve had a chance to read them, they seem necessary to others as well. So, I will re-double my efforts at the revision and submission process, and I will take it with a grain of salt that the “biggies” haven’t been receptive.
In the meantime, there are poems to read and cats to adore.
Hi Sandy,
I enjoyed hearing from you in your latest blog entry today ,so just thought I’d write to say, if you feel inclined to share any of those new poems, would value any feedback, I’d love to read them. In any case, I love your work and wish you every success getting published in those journals .
Best wishes,
Kevin
Thanks, Kevin. I’ll keep it in mind.
Hooray — you’re back!
Nice to see you here again. 🙂
Thanks, Drew. Here’s to reconnecting!