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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Reflections on a Rejection of My Writing


Sadness is a lump
I can't swallow.
This ache of failure
flails my gut.
I falter.

I look to one side and refocus.
Is this who I am?
No, not at all...but naive.

I burn
this swollen leech of hope
and let go.

Look again, slantwise and clear,
look close at the truth,
then vomit the poison and ache.

Transform this failure
into a compost of lessons:
Do the work.
Learn the craft.

Apprenticeship needs a tough skin.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Patience young grasshopper. It is a learning journey.


L

Gwen Buchanan said...

They were blind. Don't take it personally.. remember all those overnight successes that were rejected too and know you are in good company.

... situations like this are Fuel for the Fire. at least that is how I use them.

Carol Steel said...

Thanks anonymous and Gwen for encouragements. I recognize that everything is part of my learning process. And that I don't know what I don't know, so rejections are stepping stones on that path to refining my work. Thanks again for the kind words.

Crafty Green Poet said...

rejection is something that we writers just have to get used to, just keep writing and keep sending your work out!

Carol Steel said...

Yes, get used to it. This isn't the first time nor the last for rejections; it's just that this time I thought I had sent something really fine...apparently not.

Thanks CGP for encouragement.

Jane Tims said...

Hi Carol. I am totally confused by the publication world. I send things out that are (to my mind) wonderful and get a rejection. Then I'll include a quickly written bit to round out a set of poems, and it is accepted. Totally confused. Jane

Carol Steel said...

Hi Jane,

Thanks for the comforting words. Perhaps for writing, there is a question of the match between what they're looking for and what I've submitted too.