Baby Names

So we don't know the gender of this child, and we've been beating our brains out over what to name "it."
We wanted a name that started with a B, and preferred an Irish name, especially if it's a boy. However, B names are hard to come by in the Irish/Gealic/Celtic circles, or at least, names that don't suck are so we've come up with the following, with the help of our wonderful children.

Boys:

• Bailey - Gaelic - derivitive of Bailintin - Valiant
• Brock - Celtic - Badger-like.
• Conner - Irish - Exalted
• Donovan - Gaelic - Dark warrior
• Quinn - Celtic - Wise

Girls:

• Brianna - Celtic - strong
• Brooke - English - Stream
• Ciara (pronounced Kee-air-uh) - Irish - Saint
• McKenzie - Irish - Wise Leader's daughter

At the moment the combinations we're leaning toward are:
Ciara Brooke and Donovan Quinn. So much for the "B" names eh?

My daughter, funny lil thing that she is, thinks that we should use the following names:
Girl - Brooke Lynn
Boy - Brock Lee

Isn't she a hoot!?
smartass

And all of a sudden in the last 5 minutes, we like Brianna Brooke...
poor kid'll be a week old before we actually name it.

Special Days

This week's Tarheel Tavern theme is "Special Days" and I've been thinking about it for a few days now, trying to decide which way to go with it. I honestly consider these early days in fall to be special. And somehow this year I'm really finding a huge amount of comfort in the change of the quality of the air and the (so-far-ever-so-slight) change in the colors of the yard and garden. Autumn has always been sort of magical to me, and therefore one of my favorite seasons. But I don't think that's what the host had in mind, so I think I'll go in another direction.

So then, there are the upcoming holidays. In a house full of children like I have, the next few months are absolutely packed with special days. There's Halloween, with its bags full of candy and unrestrained incognito-chaos, the costumed parties and the only opportunity all year to be rude enough to actually just come right out and ASK FOR CANDY! Then Thanksgiving for us all, with too much turkey, family togetherness and tryptophan naps during half-time - and of course, Christmas. In all its gift wrapped jingle bell flashing joy, our joyous trips to the battered woman's shelter to enjoy the spirit of giving (with the selfish benefit of watching those little kids' eyes light up) what could possibly be more special a day!? And added to the mix this year, somewhere in there between pumpkin pie and eggnog, will be the birth of another baby. Is there really anything more special than that? First cries, first feedings, isn't there something simply gorgeous in watching a newborn baby yawn - tiny little fist curled and drawn to its beautiful little lips?

So what have I decided to do for this week's Tavern theme? I haven't decided a thing, there are far too many special days in life to pick just one...

1

"I begin then, with my list of truisms, every one of which, I
know, with certainty, to be true."
~ G.E. Moore

Poetic Acceptance is more than just a vaguely emo-teen-ish cutesy title to me - it really is a philosophical premise, a personal truism. There are times when you either accept, change, or go crazy. I suppose it's a bit reminiscent of the serenity prayer. The secret is in the knowing whether to accept a situation or to try to change it. Sometimes, reality in and of itself makes that decision for you - death, for example, cannot be changed, it just is, and must be accepted. (Unless your religious/spiritual beliefs lend to the assumption that death is not final, such as in the case of reincarnation. But speaking in a practical sense, someone else's death, or more precisely, their absence from our lives due to that death, is an unalterable truth.)

That finality and inarguability is probably the hardest part of death to come to grips with, the most difficult to accept, and yet, isn't it easier to not have to make the decision? There is no choice, you simply do what you must. When there is a choice to be made, that decision making process is by far more complicated.

Is a particular situation changeable? With how much effort? Is the effort worth the result? Can you do it alone, or will you need help?

I find that if I can change it on my own, I tend to lean toward toward attempting that change, but if I must rely on someone else, I will normally opt to accept. This isn't laziness or lack of motivation - it is a form of acceptance in itself. I accept that I cannot cause someone else to implement a change on my behalf; they must see that change in a way that benefits them, and in a way that leads them to the willingness to put forth the necessary effort. If they don't, they most likely won't bother.

Unfortunately, it isn't that cut and dried, thanks to the very human emotion we call hope. I hope too much. . . Isn't hope supposed to be a positive emotion?! For me, I wait and hope for far too long that some other individual will see the personal benefit of the change I desire. They rarely do, and I land smack dab in the middle of choice number three... Going crazy trying to change something that I can't, wasting precious time that should be spent coming to the acceptance.

Perhaps I'm learning how close "acceptance" sometimes is to "resignation."


Tagged: Miscellaneous, Ramblings, Random Thoughts

Not a Tanka

Autumn Contemplations

The lilies have wilted, weighted
by the dogwood's scarlet berries
and red-tipped leaves -
one pitiable death born
in the beauty of another.

Tagged: Poem, Poetic, Poetry, Writing

Senryu

Lost

I was forced to learn
the answers cannot be found
in a pool of light
so I flounder in darkness
straining my eyes and searching.


Tagged: Poem, Poetic, Poetry, Writing

Patience

Made my submission to TMR last night... wish me luck! I have the hardest time selecting which pieces are my "best." I hope I chose the right ones to send to them. They say they respond in 2 - 6 weeks. I can handle that. I think that's part of the reason I haven't submitted to Ploughshares; it isn't the rejection that I dread, it's waiting 3 months to get it ;)

Still waiting to hear from Melic. I have a strong suspicion that my submission got lost in their recent shuffle, since their deadline is a monthly rolling deadline and it's been well over one month. I hate when that happens, at some point you have to decide whether you're being impatient, or if there's a reason to think you should contact them, then take the chance of being wrong and pissing someone off.
**Guess I was hitting the bottle when I read these guidelines, they plainly say "less or equal to 4 months..."
Glad I went back and re-read before I contacted them! DUH Erin!**

Also still waiting for word from the Tigertail Anthology. I don't know why I submitted there, call it a whim. Their guidelines were sketchy and unclear, which means there was no statement as to a response time, or projected publication date. Basically, they're one of those, "shut up and wait" subs. I've been at the shutting up and waiting for 3 months now, but with an anthology the wait is more extended than it is with a monthly/quarterly publication, so I'll just keep waiting for now.



Tagged: Literature, Poetry, Ramblings, Random Thoughts, Publication, Writing

It's Time Again

It's really time to make some more submissions. Angie suggested I submit Mimosa Skirt somewhere, and it made me realize how few poems I have waiting around for a response. So I've been considering just where to make my submissions. I'm really leaning more toward print journals than ezines right now. I won't get into the conversation about whether online publication holds the same prestige as hard-copy publication. That's a discussion for another day now isn't it? What I will say is that I've been published online, several times in several zines, some more noteworthy than others, but aside from the chapbook (which as far as I can tell has been a miserable failure, and quite possibly a rip-off to boot) I have never been published in print.

I am, at times, embarrassed by my lack of credits when writing up a bio, particularly when submitting to a more reputable journal or zine, which is where I want to start focusing my efforts. In other words, I'm having a hard time deciding where to send submissions to. What journals are worth embarrassing myself for? If I'm going to lay myself out there all naked and vulnerable, I want it to be worth the humiliation, so that if and when I start receiving acceptances from print journals, they will be substantial credits, not fly-by-night, useless names on a list that no one of import would recognize (or worse yet, a list they'd laugh at.)

I had seriously considered Ploughshares. Crazy, I know, an absolute guaranteed rejection, but I really wanted to do it. Somewhere along the way I chickened out on that. I can't explain why, I'm not afraid of being turned down by them exactly, because I would expect to be rejected but, well, it seems like an effort in futility - a misdirected pointless submission that I can't really financially afford.

The Modern Review is a definite, I was really, for some reason, impressed with the tone of their rejection. I should have done what Vickie did and go for the free issue, but that felt like I wasn't willing to invest in a magazine I want to be included in, so I didn't, because I do want in The Modern Review, and the least I can do is support their magazine. The ironic thing is, I can't afford the damned subscription.

Other than those two, I'm really unsure of where to submit.

I'm tossing around the names of a few local/regional publications, like The Greensboro Review. They've been printing for nearly 4 decades, during which time they've published poets such as Ezra Pound. They seem well rounded, well organized and well respected, and are at the top of my list. Unfortunately, I discovered them on September 17th, and they're reading for the next issue closed on the 15th. (Yes, more irony.)

Another North Carolina journal I'm looking at is the Oyster Boy Review, and again, submissions closed in September. They open again in January, and assuming my newborn-baby-depleted mind can retain the idea, I intend to submit there as well.

Of course there are others that aren't so local, some that aren't so traditional - some university based presses to look into, etc...

We shall see!



Tagged:
Literature, Poetry, Publication, Ramblings, Writing

whois pacman

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Not a creation poem

A Memory of Smoke

He took night into his breath --
inhaled the light of meteor trails
and exhaled the ebony sky above him.

These were momentous sighs, embroidered
with sapphire and opal threads, each
a stitch of vapor in the space of tomorrow.

They issued from his bonfire chest
like birth wails and high tide; cicada songs,
bowed and powerless, rose to greet them.

There, drawn in the raging flame of sea
with one whispered proclamation, was dawn.

This was spawned by a list of Round Robin prompts posted here by Vickie

Tagged: Poem, Poetic, Poetry, Writing

Fall is a Beautiful Liar

Fall is a Beautiful Liar

There never were words to describe it -

The cicada song grows wearisome and
he sings despite his wings
being seared away by August.

The jade velvet of flower beds
has not weathered well under
the heat of fevered weeding;

always stroking - twisting - pulling -
where has the ease of nature gone?

The lily's curves have turned to wilt
and the morning glory is sleeping in
past the humid languor of summer.

All that remains are grubs that thrive
on the chilled skeletons of September.
There is no promise but that of death

and there never were words to describe it.

Tagged: Poem, Poetic, Poetry, Writing