Monthly Archives: August 2023

Going to the Grave with a Song Still in me . . .

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It suddenly came to me in the car this morning, that I have my planning all wrong. It’s all very well planning the number of submissions or the number of publications. What I need to do is target the number of poems I write. I know from the old days of doing the Buson 100, that I can write a lot more than I do.

As from today I am going to set targets and become a writing machine. To use the Thoreau misquote, there is little point in going to the grave with the words still in me. let’s see if I can get them out.

Here is what he is reputed to say. He didn’t, it seems say this, but he should have done because it’s better than what he actually said.

“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them” 

I’m going to have a good go at not doing that.

On another note. I saw a woman with a specialist bicycle yesterday. I’ve seen her before but yesterday was obviously a day for minor epiphanies. She has a hybrid of wheelchair and hand cycle. Now, as you may have seen, I have been talking of buying an electric scooter for extra mobility when I retire. I’m not overly keen on the idea as it’s a bit like giving up, but on the other hand it will allow me to get out and about.

Why not, I thought, buy some form of hand cycle? It will give me mobility and exercise and not involve giving up. With luck it may help me lost weight, which will help me become more mobile. That was before I started looking at it seriously. The main sorts of hand cycle are either wheelchair types, which isn’t really what I want, or they involve recumbent cycles, and if I could get down low enough to the floor to use one of them, I probably wouldn’t need one. There is, if you look hard enough, a range of upright tricycle type bikes. The only trouble with them is cost. However, I’m sure that eBay can provide something second hand. I really must look harder as my lack of exercise is something that I need to address.

Fruitbowl

Pictures are more of our tomatoes and a generic fruit picture. The apples from the gardens are sweet but not photogenic.

 

Yet Another Acceptance and a Lot of Fruit

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Sunday’s Second Post.

The good thing about one of the acceptances I had earlier in the month was the nine rejections. I think I’ve explained before that editors generally want a batch of ten tanka, and normally only select one. I have had more selected sometimes, but it always seems greedy when you are taking a space someone else would be happy to use. The nine returns were recycled – one being removed. Two were then added to the batch, which was sent out and, shortly after, provided the next acceptance (which was one of the ones that had been rejected by the previous editor). The second editor also named several they would like to see again in a few months if they are still available. They will be, because it seems  good thing to do. That means I have to wite four more to add to the batch and it can be my next submission.

In a similar vein, I have just received news of a Haibun acceptance. It’s the third time this particular Haibun has been out and it’s another slow burner as it seems to have been round for years. I worked on it for about a year and kept it back for a competition entry. It disappeared without trace, as most of my competition entries do, but I sent it out a couple more times and it has found a home. Sorry if this makes it sound like an adorable homeless kitten, but I do get attached to some of my poems.

In the past i have managed to place poems which have been turned down by as many as four editors, sometimes without even making changes. Once I even had one accepted within days of it being returned. And, in case you should think I am boasting, sometimes I haven’t. Sometimes I’ve had something returned two or three times, lost faith in it and allowed it to fade away.

I’ve read blogs by other poets who say they had things accepted after a dozen refusals, or that they are still trying years after they wrote something. I don’t have that level of confidence or fortitude. Or, to be honest, organisation.

Meanwhile, the fruit pictures are part of our harvest. The plums are doing well, the blackberries ditto, and the tomatoes are just coming into their own. We really must get a greenhouse when we move. The figs are a gift – not sure about the variety, but they aren’t Brown Turkey like the last lot. They are very sweet and so ripe you can just suck the contents out.  Photos are via Julia’s phone.

The Best Poem I Ever Wrote (Nearly)

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I spoke to Number Two Son in Canada last night. I had been intending to nag him for some time in a gently paternal way, but thought I’d wait for him to call as it’s cheaper to nag on his bill. As it turned out, he is ahead of me. He has already made some steps towards signing up to do some professional qualifications and is also seeking a pensions advisor to bolster his pension arrangements. Clearly we have a telepathic link. We all want our children to better than we have done, and both of mine already have. This is the advantage of starting off with a parent who is a fairly low benchmark.

A few nights ago I wrote the best poem I have ever written (apart from the one about the Kingfisher, but I’m keeping that under wraps for now). It has taken three years to write and has been through many versions. I sent it out last month and it came back, but I had another look, tinkered with it let it rest. I am going to look at it again tonight and see if I still think it is the best I’ve ever written. There is a chance I will spot a new crop of faults. Even if I do, it’s till going out again – after three years it’s time for it to do something. It’s a bit like kids – there’s a point when they have to go.

White-tailed Bumblebee

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as good as I thought, so I made a couple of changes (I hesitate to say improvements). looked at it and decided not to send it out after all. The real problem is the subject – the field that hosted the Battle of Naseby in 1645. I’m not sure if it’s a wide enough subject to appeal to editors. I’m still, in truth, smarting from being told that my Adlestrop poem was too obscure. That was in February last year and I’m still annoyed. I’ve just been looking to see if it was ever accepted elsewhere. The trouble is that there is a black hole in my record keeping after the computer broke down and that brings a lack of certainty.  Did it go unpublished, or can I simply not find the acceptance?

My contention here is that if I am reading an American poem I am expected to, be able to place the South Boston Aquarium  or a red wheelbarrow or a road not taken, so why not Adlestrop? When Frost wrote about the road not taken he was possibly referring to the road taken by his friend Edward Thomas , writer of  Adelstrop and was wondering whether to stay with his family or to join the army. For back up I’m citing this article, which mentions Adlestrop and gives some brilliant examples. It’s only short, and worth reading just for the two examples.

Dog Rose

Apart from the question of obscurity (which is easily solved by Google these days) how about a footnote? I personally find them condescending in most cases – is the writer merely seeking to show how clever they are? But they have their place.

The brilliant poem? In the end it wasn’t necessary. I found one that was just as good, tinkered and sent it off. This morning I woke up and thought of an extra line that would have improved it greatly . . .

As someone once said, you never finish a poem you just set it adrift.

Smells and Drugs and Water Voles

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So many small pieces of news that it’s difficult to know where to start. My drug delivery arrived last night as planned. After 18 months it seems that I may have got through to them that I’m not at home during the day and that as they need refrigeration I need an evening delivery. Seems simple but it’s been hard work getting the idea across. They offer evening delivery slots so I don’t know what the problem is. It’s a small victory, but one that feels worth celebrating.

There was no smell of sewerage in the shop this morning. I’m cautiously optimistic that yesterday’s gurgling was a sign that things have been fixed. However, based on previous experience, it could be too soon to say it’s solved.

Following on from the last good news on acceptance I have had two more, one yesterday and one today. The momentum is building again. The tanka that was accepted today was one that was not selected last week. You just can’t tell what an editor is going to like.

I watched a news report on the reintroduction of water voles last night. They released several hundred in the lake District. The main thing with helping the water vole population increase is that you have to control the population of American Mink. I’ll let you read up on the subject. I’ve already made my mind up. American Mink don’t appear in Wind in the Willows, and thus, in my opinion, have no place in our waterways. The link has, in case you didn’t read it, the fascinating fact that mink droppings smell pungent and fishy whereas otter droppings smell of jasmine tea. It’s difficult, reading that, to imagine what some of these researchers get up to when left to work unsupervised.

Yellow Flag Irises

Mainly Drains . . .

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We’ve been having trouble with the drains at work. It started over a year ago when we ended up working in a shop that smelt like a sewer. Apart from the stench, which even I felt to be stomach turning despite a wide-ranging experience of septic tanks and poultry manure, I was also worried about the mixture being explosive.

It’s been much better since that day, though there is a definite low key smell hanging about the place after rain. It has, of course, been raining regularly for the last months.  Apart from the annoyance of it, we have also noticed toning on coins in the shop, particularly silver coins, but also some bronze ones. That is proof that we have something floating around  the shop reacting with the coins. It cannot be good.

Anyway, today we had a vehicle outside the shop from Severn Trent Water. It went up and down the street clearing drains. At one point we had a lot of gurgling coming from the sink as they seemed to be blowing air up the pipes. It then changed to a rather alarming bubbling sound as the toilet got some attention.

It is going to be interesting to see if it has made a difference when I open up tomorrow, as the smell seems to gather at the front of the shop during the night.

Meanwhile, the history of the Numismatic Society of Nottinghamshire has been delivered by the printers. It is our 75th Anniversary this “season” (2023-4). It’s mildly interesting, but let’s face it, the subject material (a dozen elderly men gathering together 8 or 9 times a year to discuss coins) isn’t going to inspire a series of books and a spin-off TV series.

1921 Pennies

More Work, Less Play

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Finally I seem to be getting back in the groove and, for once, actually have things written in advance. Although I had enough for three submissions last night, it still took me the best part of two hours to send them off. Each magazine wants a different format, and even though they want the same information, they want it in different forms and in one case, are very keen that you do it in a very specific order. By the time I’d finished sorting all that out, I then noticed some ways to “improve” the poems one last time. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Anyway, it’s done. I’m planning on making six submissions this month. I’d better get a move on, because one of them closes on 25th and i haven’t started writing it yet. Out of the six, three are to places where I submit regularly. Two are to places I submit to irregularly (I’ve been giving them a miss recently, during my dry spell) and one is to a magazine that has never accepted anything from me, and where I haven’t submitted for about three years.

This is getting back to the old days when it was all about the submissions, and I had plenty of material to send. Recently, with less to send I’ve been playing safe and only submitting to the easy ones. This change of attitude is, I think, the last thing I needed to do to get back to the old way of doing things. All I need now is plenty of ideas. That’s another area where I’ve been struggling but it seems that as my writing is picking up pace, so is the generation of ideas. I have read articles that claim you get more ideas if you write more and so far it seems to be the case.

Of course, I’m a narcissist and I write to see my name in print, so the real test will be to see if I increase my acceptances, not just my workload.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

A Gift of Figs

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I spent twenty minutes last night on final editing for a submission. Time is pressing and I am trying to show more ambition this month. Unfortunately, as I filled out the list of submissions I noted that I had already submitted it to someone else. I have so many in various states of completion that I sometimes lose track – hence the list. It doesn’t help when, as with this one, the file is listed under one name but the submission is listed under a different one. Titles change and I don’t always change the file names. It happens.

So, two things. One is that I wasted twenty minutes. Two is that the edits make it a far better piece, so I am annoyed for submitting something that needed more work. This annoyance will worsen if it is returned. I will blame myself for sloppy work. If it is accepted, I will feel annoyed that I’m not showing my best work. There is an obvious lesson about organisation and efficiency in this story, but my files are in a mess and I can’t see an easy way to sort it. Over Christmas I will reorganise things and make more effort to keep things straight.

Figs

It is not the first time I have said something similar, and the fact that I have files on the computer with words like “Old”, “New Start” and “Tidy Up” in the name, provides proof of this. I have around 45 active haibun and tanka prose, though it’s difficult to be precise with the chaotic filing system. I just wrote a list of them, as I need to make an effort to get them all properly finished. As I did that, I realised that some weren’t good enough to justify making more effort with them. That happens all the time. I can work on something for a year sometimes, before it strikes me that it simply isn’t good enough. Mostly it’s because it isn’t very interesting, or because it rambles on without reaching a point. If I think it’s dull or pointless there’s a very good chance  that editors will do the same.will find the same.

The pictures? The garden fruit harvest has begun. We picked plums at the weekend and Julia brought apples back from the gardens. Tonight, one of the neighbours brought figs round. It’s one of my favourite times of year, though it’s always a little sad that the year is beginning to come to an end.

Reflected Plums – Victoria

Thoughts on Sport and National Anthems

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I’ve just been reading an internet article on the singing of National Anthems by teams before international sporting events. This, it seems, was the reason for the United States Women’s team leaving the FIFA World Cup early.

I have news for all Americans here. It doesn’t matter. If you ever watch an English team at the start of am international match you will note that many of them don’t sing the National Anthem. That’s because most of us don’t know the words. And, in the case of football players, because some of the words have more than two syllables. We don’t I admit, win many big international competitions but the failure is down to arrogance, lack of preparation, money, tactical shortcomings and a plethora of other things, which all came into play during the rest of the article discussing the American women. At least they won four World Cups before the press turned on them, our men have only won one and our women haven’t won one yet.

The National Anthem isn’t a big thing in the UK, it’s just a dirge of a tune, with a history going back to, possibly, the 16th Century. It has had many verses and, like most things in the country, it fails to reflect the modern world. We are only allowed to sing two verses now, as dismissive references to foreigners and Scots are, due to modern sensibilities, not allowed. And, most importantly, it isn’t official, it just became the National Anthem because people sang it at times when other countries sang national anthems.

The American National Anthem has an interesting history too and was officially adopted in 1931 after many attempts. The music is by an Englishman. Interestingly, the music to another contender (My Country ’tis of Thee) is said to have music which is “identical to the music of God Save the King”. They can’t quite bring themselves to say that it is identical because it is the same music.

There are translations of the American National Anthem into many languages, including a French version for Americans of French descent (one of whom is amongst my readers) whereas we don’t bother with that sort of stuff in the UK, as we expect the rest of the world to learn English.

And there you go, a post that was going to discuss the evils of football and football journalism, turned out to be a post about National Anthems.

 

 

 

Friday Comes so Soon!

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Yes, I missed a day gain, but I have  good excuse. I slept until just past midnight, woke up and decided to sleep instead of write. Mentally I feel better for it. Conscience-wise, I know I should have written last night, and should have made time to do it. However, spilt milk and all that . . .

The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves one, nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back tom cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it . . . Or words to that effect.  A quote from Omar Khayyam that  I nearly know by heart. I run into trouble as it gets to the end, so I checked this up and copied it to be sure.

It’s pizza for tea. Bought in bases. Sauce from a jar. Coleslaw from a plastic tub. After a day in the shop I really can do without the need to produce thinly sliced cabbage. I’m thinking of making soup for lunch as it’s better for me than sandwiches.

Tomorrow is Saturday and then it will be Sunday again. Another week gone and none of my plans put into action.

Later tonight I am going to return to my Open learning course on the Roman Empire. I decided to take a more laid back attitude this year. When I rejoined i was upset to find that I had forgotten 90%, perhaps more, of all the material I had covered.  Worse than that, I’d even forgotten taking a couple of the courses. I admit they aren’t long, but it was a bit of a shock. I’m going to go slower, repeat the reading and make notes this time.

Tonight I will re-read Unit One in an attempt to make it take root.

 Selection of Pizzas after one of the school sessions we used to do.

Pizza picture is because I mentioned pizza. Pig picture – well only a heart of stone would not fail to find a piglet cute.

Wednesday Part 2

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Another in my series of low effort post titles. It does the job so I can’t complain, but on the other hand I have to wonder how many other two post Wednesdays there have been. Turns out I have already had a Wednesday Part 2 and a Wednesday (Part 2).

Tha car passed its MOT yesterday. One advisory on a tyre, but they always have to say that. Last time they gave me an advisory on a tyre it was still legal 12 months later. That’s what happens when the test station also sells tyres. It’s not a bad result, though I haven’t done many miles over the last few years. I do about a third of the miles I used to do before COVID. This is a result for the planet, if nothing else, though it has also helped ease the cost of living for us too. On the other hand, I’m not visiting many places and don’t have many new photographs to use in blog posts.

I have just had a phone call from the anti-coagulation service – my levels have dropped out of the acceptable range so they are, as usual, rushing round doing things. In this case it’s adding an extra half tablet tonight and another half tablet in the week. Then a re-test next Wednesday. Not happy with that. My prediction is that it will be fine next week even if I don’t take the extra two half tablets. It goes up and down and will take months to settle once they start tinkering. It’s always near the low end and, in my view, I have always needed an extra couple of half tablets. They asked if I’d been eating more salad recently as extra greenery is the usual suspect in these cases. Ha! Salad? I think regular readers can guess my answer to that.

I’ve also had two emails from magazines. Two more acceptances, which is good. Strangely, one of the other posts mentioned above, had a report of similar news. This brings me up to 14 acceptances for the year, which is two a month despite my struggles and patchy submission record.

So far, I think you can say it’s been  mixed week.