I got published

I should mention that some of my writing has been published. Two of my poems, “The Pool” and “Sarah Was Wrong,” are in the spring edition of Philadelphia Poets.

I have been sporadically submitting poetry to magazines over the years and I’m happy that some of my work has been accepted. You get enough rejection emails to wallpaper your home so it’s satisfying once in awhile when someone says yes. Awhile back, I attended a writing conference where I met the editor of Philadelphia Poets, which I believe has been around since the early ‘80s. I am very grateful to the editor for considering me and for her encouragement.

Last month I also read one of the poems at an event in Philadelphia along with some of the other writers in the issue. I was nervous to go (because you know how well I do in a room full of strangers) but was glad I did. I was also glad a few months ago that I went to a poetry reading in Wilmington to share some of my work. Those readings were a reminder that sometimes we do need to hear poetry aloud. I had scoffed at that for a long time, preferring just to read it in print, but I felt like I could communicate some of my own work better in person.

I should do more of this sort of thing because writing can be a lonely experience and it’s good to get out and be with writers and take some inspiration. I should also submit more of my work to publications. I’d like to do more short stories but I seem to have hit a dry spell of ideas in the last few years. I’ve been writing for almost 25 years and I’ve written thousands of poems, some I thought were really good and some that were embarrassing. It’s not a romantic notion but writers have to produce an enormous quantity of crap to get to something decent; something that might resonate with a reader.

I’m proud that I may have produced a little something that resonates with somebody. This may not look like much, but it’s mine, and it’s a start.