Highs and Lows

I complained recently about the length of reply time from magazines concerning poetry submissions especially when they in no way match the claim on their website. For instance I recently received a rejection from a magazine after holding onto my poems for eight months, they claim on their website that they aim to reply within three months.

They caveat that the reply may take longer especially if your poems are being considered for publication, which sounds reasonable. But five months longer? Seriously? I would have no problem if they had stated up front that the reply time may be around six to eight months. Then it's up to me whether I want those particular poems to be tied up for that length of time.

However, I was pleasantly gobsmacked to be on the receiving end at other end of the spectrum today. I submitted poems to a magazine which does claim a reading time of around eight months. Thirteen minutes later I received a delightful acceptance of two of my poems!! I'm still in shock!

So I wrote my ballad poem and I'm pleased with how it turned out! I found Anne Carson's voice in her long poem The Glass Essay to be a useful sound in the back of my mind whilst writing it. Sometimes it seems so bizarre how the writing process / inspiration happens. My poem is nothing like Anne Carson's in any way but somehow hearing her 'voice' in the form of this poem stimulated my voice and helped unlock my poem for me.  

A couple of years ago on retreat at Moniack Mhor I read Anne Carson's translation of Antigone and thoroughly enjoyed it but apart from that I had never been drawn to her work. Yet recently when I started reading The Glass Essay I was completely absorbed by it, the voice in it caught me and drew me into its multiple parts. The voice is refreshing and yet familiar, her diction straightforward. A few years back I would have struggled to be engaged by this poem with its 'talky' rhythm and image-lite stanzas compared to my preferences then. 

The last month or so I've been plagued by physical ailments, and I can't concentrate on poems when I'm in pain, so I've done no writing since my ballad. Thankfully I'm feeling much better. 

I'm currently reading through a book of Scottish ballads and seeing which ones I'm drawn to and will perhaps become part of my project.