Poetry

It's been very quiet on the submission front lately - one or two rejections in the last few weeks despite having many, many things out. I'm hoping that's a good sign.

I've just finished my fourth round of 30 poems in 30 days. I can't believe I've written 120 poems. Wow! I'm taking a break from the daily poems for a while to concentrate on revision. I've got poems (obviously), flashes and short stories, and my NaNoWriMo novel all begging to be revised and polished.

Here's a cento I wrote using lines from war poems by Graham, Auden, Crane, Neruda, Mikhail, Homer, Amichai, Lowell, Celan:


Would you prefer for someone else's son to die in the mud?

Outlaws fill the mountain caves,
little souls who thirst for fight.
Come and see the blood –
it works with unparalleled diligence!
Grief has you by the hair with one;
behind all this perhaps some great happiness is hiding
or the blessèd break.
We scoop out a grave in the sky where it’s roomy to lie.