Three things happened this past week:
- Two different publishers
told me they weren’t getting enough submissions from women,
- A Facebook friend told me
she felt guilty writing when so many bad things are happening to so many
good people, and
- I sat down to write my
blog post and wrote a poem instead.
Believe it or not, these all tie in to each other.
It’s not just women who are now stuck at home. Men are too.
And yes, there’s home schooling, baking bread, jigsaw puzzles bigger than your
house, and if you’re like me, piles of books and magazines all over, just
waiting to be read. And there are the regular things we have too: animals to be
walked, art, music, writing, and so on. Oh yeah…laundry.
Even though not everyone is a submitting poet, especially
now it seems like women are submitting less than before. The two publishers I
spoke with publish two very different journals, so it’s fair to say across the
board, that women aren’t submitting as much. Don’t forget about including this
in your day. It’s true that universities are closed, and publishers seem to
take longer with reduced staffs, but not every one of the 23,000 journals out
there are published by universities. Submissions are being read every day!
Even university journals are reading electronically but it’s
hard to know when they’ll be publishing.
You may feel the same as my Facebook friend. So many bad
things are happening to good people—she feels she doesn’t deserve to be worried
about a “silly acceptance or rejection”. But she does. We all do. I really
think we are all trying to do as much as we can, and think about it – someone
sees your name in a journal and they like your work, so they buy the journal
online from the local independent bookstore…
That helps pay the light bill, the rent, the taxes. By us NOT putting our lives on hold, we
continue to help, without even knowing.
I have no excuse for writing a poem instead of working on
this blog post. I’d only written two poems in May but I wrote five in April,
and that’s not the point. When poems want to come out, they have to. I keep up with
the news, but I’ve made a point to avoid it for poems. I personally cannot
write a political poem without it sounding like a news article, and I won’t do
it. So a poem called “Church and Plums”??? Pray God it gets published someday
and I’ll be able to post it here.
I Really Want a
Pastrami Sandwich
Years ago, our power went out and my son mentioned he had an
essay due in school.
Was the laptop charged?
Yes
Well why don’t you write the essay
on your laptop?
No.
Wrong answer. He was mad at me, but I said just open to a
new page and write “my mom is making me write this and I don’t want to”, and
see what comes out. He started writing. And writing. And writing. And even
though he was still mad at me, he wrote his essay.
Flash forward ten or fifteen years. We were talking the
other day and he said “mom, I still start off all my writing assignments the
same exact way”.
Really? By saying my mom is making me do this?
No. I open to a new document and type “I really want a pastrami
sandwich”
Whatever works. He’s a better writer than I am and he gets
good grades; let him eat all the pastrami he wants!!
With the park open and the start of Memorial Day weekend, I
hope some of you are getting in some safe walks, fresh air, and inspiration. You are allowed to be kind to yourself.
I know that writing a poem, a piece of flash, doing art worthy of journal
covers (see Susan Abbott’s covers on Cholla Needles #40 & #42), and submissions worthy
of publication (see Jeff’s poems and the others in issue #42 as well) does not
take away from the concerns and good works we are doing for others in these terrible
times.
Not every creative piece has to be about the pandemic. A
poem can be about “Church and Plums”. Rich just completed Page 3 of online poetry
readings (each page is two hours - Page 4 starts this week). Check them out on the Cholla Needles website and add one of your own,
on any subject! If you are a submitting writer, submit your work. It’s okay.
It’s necessary. It will help the journals, the publishers, all down the line. And
if your local deli is open for takeout and you’re not a vegetarian? Grab a
pastrami sandwich! xo
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Tobi Alfier's most recent collection of poetry is Slices Of Alice. She is also co-editor with Jeff Alfier of the San Pedro River Review. Don't miss Tobi's columns on the craft of poetry: insert your email address in the "Follow By Email" box to the right of this article and you'll be notified every time a new article appears.
