Poetry

bees, sea, grieving


this death
     that one.
          all those.

the wind full of Amazing Grace,
the sky full of our eyes,
the earth brave with her burdens,

but grieving

                                        grieving
about her ruined sea
about the bees

          vanishing

about the time
she’ll hear us say remember

honey?

 ---Zann Carter
[first published in Dirty Chai, Issue 8 Fall 2015]

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I want to blog a bit about my poetry, because that is a huge part of my creative life. I am happiest and most fulfilled when my days are composed of writing time and fiber arts time. The tactile, in-motion process of working with fiber and beautiful tools complements the cerebral process of writing, working at desk and computer - each an antidote to too much of the other. Often, too, each art informs the other.

I no longer post my poems here because most journals consider that to be publication and they will not consider previously published work. Two years ago, I began a concerted effort to submit my work here and there, to enter contests, etc., so it's important that I follow all the rules.

At any given time during my effort, I had 10 or so manuscripts out for consideration and at the end of a year or so, had gotten 7 acceptances out of perhaps 50 total submissions. I think that is a fairly decent ratio. I am gearing up again for another such effort.



Right now, I have one batch of poems out. My goal last year was to do at least one submission a week. And I specifically set aside Sunday as Submission Sunday. That routine worked very well for me and I quite liked the alliteration. I think that this time I want to challenge myself to submit more often, and to take advantage of simultaneous submission when journals allow that and it seems most of them do.

I can post links to my poems in online publications and I believe I can post those poems here as well as poems in print publications after they have been out awhile, with an acknowledgement to the publication.

So. We have just ended National Poetry Month. It was quite a wonderful month. I was delighted to be invited to participate in a reading and panel with three other local poets, held at the public library. That is how the month began for me.

April ended with the Lit Launch - an annual event with local colleges and universities, where all the literary magazines are distributed. For several years, our DIY lit mag, subTerreanean, has been invited to take part as well. subTerreanean comes out of the poetry community we've created with th' poetry asylum, and a monthly open reading that is in its ninth year.

I was also invited to read some of my poems at Indiana State University - that was on May 1, so it seemed like it was part of National Poetry Month as well.

And then there was this year's NaPoWriMo - the annual poetry month challenge to write a poem every day. I've completed it five times now. This year, I managed 23.  And I'm not at all unhappy! As usual, when working at the rate of a poem a day over a period of time, some are promising, some are not, and a couple end up splendid and ready to meet the world.