Writers Forum - Northern California

I think my current count is up to eight as the number of sites that have told me they do not accept writing of the type I enjoy. Mind you that is not the same as rejecting what I write. You see rather than trying to deal with the rejection of my actual work, I have been asking if the web site is interested in (hide the children) poetry.

These sites are all ones that I enjoy and visit. They are well managed, have quality contributors, and are above all entertaining. I respect and admire what they have created and the contribution they make to the communities they speak to. Why wouldn’t I want to see what I write on such sites?

However, poets and poetry are the outlaws if not the anarchists of the literary world. We can find room on the poetry specific sties, or at some open mike session that remind me of the movie and TV scenes I used to see as a kid of Beatnik coffee houses. Maybe it is not quite Maynard G. Krebbs as seen on Dobie Gillis, but similar enough.

Poets do not follow the rules of grammar or punctuation. They write in mini-mysteries called metaphors and have lots of fun with alliterative alternative allegorical word chains. We write to prolong a moment of bliss, or enlightenment, or to take breath and find the ah-ha in a crisis so we can better understand or even find a little personal growth, and in times of doubt the color of a sunset provides plenty of fuel for our passion.

Having written we turn it loose to find its way in the world. If we are lucky we stimulate someone to think a little and perhaps share our moments with us or better yet to find one of his or her own. In a way I guess we put on our Dr. Phil hats and say, “Is this working for you?”

With our lack of form and grammar (we even stretch the limits of spelling if it suits us) we are definitely the anarchists of literary creation. Look at the end product. It even says we may have a little ADD. Most of the time the work will not begin to fill a page, using up about half of the width and printed down the center, with lots of double spaced breaks between verses and titles. Then we are off to another page and subject.

Speaking of ADD, does anyone out there know the current definition of Free Enterprise? Since we are funding the auto industry, banks, brokerage houses, an insurance company, et al, is any enterprise truly free to us? And please do not get me started on banks charging me to cash a check for dollars and taking up a teller’s time, I suppose the fee is a reward for the good job their management has done. But I digress.

I understand the decisions of the content managers. These sites are businesses. They need to have content that appeals to the greater community and create traffic. They are much more dynamic and fluid thinking than traditional publishers. And given much of what I read and cannot begin to fathom in the New Yorker, no wonder poetry is off of their approved lists.

And then there is the old school approach. Would but I could begin to write in iambic pentameter rhythms of rhyme and beauty on the way to creating a sonnet. To solve such a Rubik’s Cube would be sublime. Maybe after I solve a Haiku I will try one.

I will continue to write my poetry. It gives my spirit a chance to find some adventure. And it is safer than running stop signs in the far back corner of a store’s parking lot. (Which reminds me. As of today I need to cross this off my Bucket List, if I ever write a Bucket List.) But mostly, it allows me to spend some time with some really talented and creative people. I find writers are more often than not great observers of the human experience, and as such, they are interesting storytellers. Those that I have met have smiles on their faces, and share wonderful humor, dry wit and irony, and can be charmingly self-effacing.

I have met mystery writers, non-fiction novelists, journalists, technical writers, travel editors, children’s authors, op-ed folks, free lancers and ghostwriters, and even authors of cookbooks. All because I wanted to learn how to express myself better when I wrote and joined the Writers Forum. Published or not, my poetry allows me to think that I might just belong in this circle if only for a minute or two. It has been a blast.