My gosh, it has been ten years since the last time I had a poem published (“Canny” in There Will Be War Volume X circa 2015).
I would say I’ve resumed writing them in earnest, but apparently in earnest means a couple a year in the last five six years (apparently, I completed a long-delayed poem in 2019).
I’ve completed, what, a dozen since then? Not a prodigious output, but for the most part I’m happy with the quality of the content. I’ve had them in rotation submitting them to various places since then, now with the ability to submit four or five poems to several places simultaneously. Which is good: The turnaround time (time to rejection) sometimes runs to eight months, which means any poem I write, I can submit to a new market maybe three times every two years. You know, when I was one-and-twenty, I was writing a bunch and submitting a bunch, but now that I’m writing slower, it’s getting a bit daunting that I might run out of time before amassing a great number of credits.
At any rate, I’m posting this because two of my poems appeared on Green Hills Literary Lantern XXXVI. I say on instead of in because the Truman State (formerly Northeast Missouri State or simply “Kirksville” until, what, 1996? That long ago?) literary journal has been online-only since 2005. But it’s a university publication, with real professors liking my poetry and everything.
At this pace, I’ll have enough for another chapbook in another decade or so. I can’t wait.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. I’ve been writing a little faster here lately. A little success has gone to my head, to my heart, and to my hand.
