draft [Desolate Brand Name]

Desolate Brand Name

A deserted brand rested on the counter.
Alone, it could not move about.
There was no heart-to-heart, no clatter
Not even gossip to weight it down with guilt.

The brand became generic
Of its own accord.
A brand name, insignificant
With no one to call out to it.

The night grew into the severest ebony
It had ever know—
Failing to see beyond the room,
Beyond any hope—
It sought its own demise,
But remained helpless on the counter.

In passing

A day old thermos of thoughts;
lukewarm at best,
separated two intangibles.

Surprise! Yes, there is a correlation between publication and submission...

November sounds so unequivocally late in the year. Past the point of doing things over or differently. If you didn't join a Christmas club at your bank, it's too late for this year. And it you didn't apply yourself as diligently as you planned at writing, well it would likely take a stroke of magic to rectify that now. The same holds true for submissions of work.

I think this is the first year that I have truly satisfied myself with my submission efforts. That is not to say that I will slack off in November and December. No, I believe I can push my satisfaction level and perhaps my acceptances even higher.

I'm not really sure why or how it has come about that I have motivated myself as well as I have, but I think it has in fact had a bit of a habit forming aspect to it. While I don't have any idea how many pieces of work other poets shuffle off in search of new homes each year, I have come away with some concept of quantity with one poet / blogger and that is IVY. It follows that her successes with publishing have also seemed to be reflective of a very liberal amount of submission activity. It has been in fact quite inspiring to follow her exploits over the past three years or so that I have read her blog. I know there are other good examples out there of poets who are regularly achieving success with the exposure their work is getting. To all that have been enjoying good years, I say may 2008 be even better. To others who aren't quite there yet I say aim high next year and good luck!

Releasing poems from the bondage of the hard drive

Squeezed in 3 more poetry submissions before the end of the month. I now feel good enough to allow myself to go to bed.

Wednesday - breather

I always find Andrei Codrescu interesting if not amazing when featured on NPR. Last night I heard this piece of his: From Poetry to Web: Tools of Youthful Rebellion (click here).

Found this Joyce Oats quote today. Oh how very true... "A poem has a sort of fingerprint of a person on it, said Oates. People can write it to be about one thing, only to go back later and see that it pertains to something new. Simply, it follows a person's life stages."

Closing thought.... "Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles." - George Jean Nathan

Drivetime Thought

I was wondering (thank God not wandering) on the way in this morning, why Hallmark Cards has never exploited "the day of the dead?"

Guerrilla Ink Press / Call for submissions

Call for Submissions: Guerrilla Ink Press
Guerrilla Ink Press is currently accepting submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction manuscripts, as well as photography and digital artwork for a new literary, arts, entertainment, news publication, GiP. This magazine allows Guerrilla Ink Press to continue providing dynamic publishing opportunities for new, emerging, and established writers in both electronic and print formats. Deadline is December 10, 2007.Send Submissions to:Attn: GiP MagazineGuerrilla Ink Press, LLC1956 E. Chestnut Exp.Springfield, MO 65802-2235

Passing this information along from Cindy