More poems for the fall

Today, The Innisfree Poetry Journal took two poems for their fall 2011 issue (#13). Many thanks to Greg McBride, the editor, for his receptiveness to a new poet. Check out The Innisfree Poetry Journal. You'll see lots of good stuff. These two poems come in completely different styles from the other poems coming out this fall (described in the blog post for April 24). 

Around the place

A journal sent this interesting turn-down for a group of poems that work in my spare, understated style (which differs from my other styles):

We enjoyed the four poems you sent us – in particular for their powerful, evocative language and the crystal-clear images they conjured up in the reader's mind.

            Unfortunately, we're not especially enamored with poetry that contains a lot of nature imagery, as these do, mainly because we see so much of it around the place. Though not an absolute rule, it tends to be a topic we shy away from. So on this occasion we're going to pass on these pieces, but we'd certainly be interested in reading future submissions if you think you have something suitable.

I admire their willingness to tell me their thinking, to turn down poems they seem to like, and to hold to an aesthetic, even if I’d rather they went with their likes. Some of these poems work variations on the usual nature thing, but maybe that didn’t come across. And even those variations—let's call them non-nature nature poems—have a history within so-called nature poetry. (In another sense, I also believe that at some point it’s all nature poetry all the way down.) Anyway, it was generous of busy editors to take the time and trouble to say what they’re thinking, including its mix of nerve and vulnerability.

Dog days coming in the fall

Alas, long time no blog again. It happens. But this time I have a lot of excuses, stuff (including other writing) that kept me from writing poems or sending them out. But I’m back to it and delighted to say that a cool, not yet well enough known journal called blue & yellow dog just took five way crazy poems for their fall 2011 issue (#6). (One is so crazy that somebody I sent it to thought it must have been the result of a formatting glitch and asked me to re-send it as a pdf.) Check out blue & yellow dog. Cool stuff, and many thanks to Raymond Farr, the editor, for his receptiveness to a new writer.

New poem in decomP

Check out this new little poem just out in decomP, "After the Snake Has Passed."

Changing the website

Revised the opening words on my website. Changed them to more of an introduction. Now maybe I say too much. Before maybe I said too little. Caught between two styles yet again. Anyway, here’s the old, shorter version: “R. D. Parker began writing poetry in 2009. He writes poems in more than one style. Here you can find a list of his published poems and a link to his new poetry blog.” Maybe the new version will clear up confusion when people expect one style and then, to their surprise, find links to another.

decomP in December

Long time no blog. Sorry. Anyway, decomP has taken a poem for their December issue. Thanks to editors Jac Jemc and Jason Jordan for their receptiveness to a new writer.

The glow of the second quotidian

My interview with PANK is now up on the PANK blog. J. Bradley, the panky PANK interviewer, usually asks clever-silly questions. I can go clever, maybe. I can go silly, maybe, too, though I usually try to trim the silliness from my drafts. But I’m no good at clever and silly together, so I didn't go that way. My favorite J. Bradley interview is the recent one with Victoria Lynne McCoy. McCoy’s poem made me think of Martha Nussbaum’s fascinating and provocative Sex and Social Justice.

(What in the world is the glow of the second quotidian? Read the interview and you'll find out.)

Can you have a good poem without ideas?

There’s an interesting discussion on Elisa Gabbert’s The French Exit about whether good poems must have ideas. Darby Larson, energetic and risk-friendly editor of the terrific web journal Abjective, proposes my “Aquamarine” in Caketrain 7 as an example of a poem so radical that it has no ideas. That’s a smart thought. I don’t know Darby, but I appreciate that he reads enough stuff to have read my stuff. More recently, he commented on “Stillness” in the PANK blog. Be sure to check out Abjective.

Welcome

Welcome readers, whoever you may be. This blog doesn’t have much on it yet, but it will grow (slowly). Looking forward to my interview with PANK, which I expect will take place some time soon.