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You need thick skin- publishers are too busy to worry about hurting feelings

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ReAdSaLoT On September 23, 2019




,
#1New Post! Aug 06, 2014 @ 12:40:19
It may not be right, but it's the reality of the business.

I just had a nice comment on a poem I wrote in 2009; talk about bad poetry. That's a post I wish Tino would take down. It's ok, I was getting emotions out of my system, but a few people encouraged me and I kept going. Rejection letters suck, I've gotten them and I've sent them. Not because I wish to be hurtful, but when you put yourself in the public eye, you don't know what's going to happen. I've always been a writer, but poetry wasn't my thing until about six years ago. I've worked my butt off to improve and it's not easy. When I tell a young writer they can do better, it's because they've gotten my attention. Now you have to keep the public's attention. There are a billion sites on the web and I'm just guessing, worldwide, a million writing and poetry sites. On an average day I read about 50 and publish maybe three.
I started at TFS and all the good and nasty jibes got right back to me. I was on a mission to get better and get published. Today I can say that the work paid off. I write for myself, what I'm feeling. I put it away and little by little, fine hone it. If you're going to get upset when you get rejection, you don't belong in the field. If it's a hobby that helps you, keep writing. This is just my opinion, but I think it's valid. It's true when they say, "If everybody liked the same thing, they wouldn't make so many flavors of ice cream."
One of the hardest things with poetry is people's perception. They always think that it's about you. Well, I'm an observer, so most of the time, they're a bunch of characters in what I'm trying to say.
I got sick of people felling sorry for me when it was sad, so I finally wrote- "This one is About Me."
Don't get angry, get better.


This One is About Me


Every day, some days, once in awhile,
the photographs of my mind come
into focus, bombarding my cerebral
field with small glimpses of this time
called mine, only mine with views
shared with few, the most trusted who
may see parts of me, never the whole.

the entirety too complex, intricate
to be understood, even by myself.
Travels through life with feelings,
emotions, thoughts, only mine alone,
in a world too busy it overlooks a scream
for help or to help, in the longing to
be perfect; impossible for anyone
called human in any age any year.

Finally after watching, praying, dreaming
as the passage of time takes me down
good paths, pleasant trails, bumpy roads,
am I able to look at the pictures
as I am willing to see this person change.
Memories of painful gym class showers,
algebra class horror stories, first love,
first pain, first hurt, first God awful death,

help me to wade through what is good,
what isn't or what needs changing, as
aging passes through memories of becoming
"a woman", then becoming, "a woman",
a toiler, a wife, mother, whatever I wish
to be; place a smile which helps fight
the lines slowly forming around tired eyes,
moving my thoughts on in this page of my life,
never totally free of troubles, sorrow, laughter,

pushing me to ignore some words spoken which
just don't matter anymore, or never again.
Things that changed just never to be
restored will no longer cloud my vision from
seeing the person who is finally at peace in
this time and place where I can live with myself,
free from the shackles, which I'll no longer
carry, as I march with the army human to

capture happiness whenever possible, knowing
whatever ache strikes my body or heart, will be
interspersed with moments of laughter and love,
moving me on in my journey to truly survive
whatever is placed in my way, lingering only
infrequently to view the pictures of the past
which will remain with me, living in the photo
album of a life never again wasted pondering
everything that I might have become. I AM THIS.


sjo/jazz ©2010 rewritten 2012
It comes from the heart.
white_swan53 On October 07, 2020




n/a, New Mexico
#2New Post! Aug 07, 2014 @ 16:01:35
I have never really read poetry .
When I was growing up I read what my grand dada did, For entertainment , granddad read aurthor like 'Zane Grey' and for facts and info he read stuff like newsweek.
So, your work is pretty much my first 'contact' with poems and poetry , you can take it to the bank , that you are no Zane Grey ,,,, . I can lend you a few keepsake Zane Grey books to read if you have any question about my complamenmting you when I say that .
With that said, I have always found your work easy to read , always packed with emotion ,whether the emotion is sad or happy or angry or loving , IMHO , it always comes across in my way of thinking , as you put it " from the heart" .
nooneinparticular On March 16, 2023




, Hawaii
#3New Post! Aug 07, 2014 @ 17:04:31
For me, I've always believed that people jeer because they want to cheer. If they didn't care, then it wouldn't matter if the original material was good or not.

Some people offer helpful criticism where this notion is a lot more apparent, but even though most don't (because lets face it this is the internet we're talking about here), I still always keep this idea in the back of my head that people only say things when they actually care about them or the one who wrote or said them in some capacity.
ReAdSaLoT On September 23, 2019




,
#4New Post! Aug 07, 2014 @ 18:07:59
@white_swan53 Said

I have never really read poetry .
When I was growing up I read what my grand dada did, For entertainment , granddad read aurthor like 'Zane Grey' and for facts and info he read stuff like newsweek.
So, your work is pretty much my first 'contact' with poems and poetry , you can take it to the bank , that you are no Zane Grey ,,,, . I can lend you a few keepsake Zane Grey books to read if you have any question about my complamenmting you when I say that .
With that said, I have always found your work easy to read , always packed with emotion ,whether the emotion is sad or happy or angry or loving , IMHO , it always comes across in my way of thinking , as you put it " from the heart" .



Granddaddy was a cowboy at one time, from Montana. I know "Zane Grey", well. He would never read any of that ,"sissy poetry" stuff, but Grandmama would have loved it. Thank you for being a great friend.
Octavarium On December 23, 2021




Pacific North West,
#5New Post! Aug 13, 2014 @ 13:53:44
Well put in the first, heartfelt in the second. Nicely done Sue. To coin a theme, keep on ridin' that horse, you're good at it
memememe On November 05, 2014




N/A, United States (general)
#6New Post! Nov 05, 2014 @ 21:22:19
I'm in the habit of submitting stories to magazines. I'm also in the habit of receiving rejection letters.

It never bothers me, because by the time I receive one letter, I've already written and submitted a few more stories.
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