Into the Void

I've been scribbling on napkins as long as I can remember. Raised as an only child, I relied on an active imagination and volumes of books to keep myself amused. Occasionally, I would commit my own fancies to paper.

My first poem was written when I was about seven. To this day, I believe it remains my mother's favorite. Shall I share it with you?

I called it:

Today

It may begin a happy day
And then it might end in sorrow
but there's not a more important day
than the day before tomorrow

There you have it.

I've been thinking about that poem quite a bit lately. Probably because - thanks in large part to the inspiration of San Diego Momma's PROMPTuesdays and the fine examples of my clever husband and writerly friends - I have resumed my napkin scribbling.

Well, the napkins are usually computer screens and there's rather more typing than scribbling, but you get the idea.

Today I took a big, scary step for me. I submitted a new poem for publication. Not only that, but I submitted it for publication in the most prestigious poetry periodical I could imagine. The editors may hate it. They may scratch their heads and wonder where I got the gall to submit in the first place. That's okay. It was important that I do it. It was important that I do it today.

I've heard it said that if you reach for the stars, you may never get them, but in the process of reaching, you might well take hold of the moon. So I figure, even if the stars laugh and point at my waggling fingers, at least my fingers are out ther waggling. Who knows what I'll come back with?

I should have a better idea "within within 1-3 weeks".