3 Poems Accepted by Ryder — Or Was That Just 2
Lots of numbers, 4 and 3 Monday, now 2 and another 3. But if course different contexts. So for today’s, let us take the wayback machine to summer last year, with the publishing of two poems by me — “Don’t Always Believe Everything You Read” and “The Vampiress’ Soliloquy” — in local Bloomington magazine THE RYDER (see July 12, June 13 2022, et al.).
It seems that THE RYDER is at it again.
It actually started in late December when, answering an e-call by the Bloomington Writers Guild’s Tony Brewer, I sent three poems for a planned 2023 THE RYDER Poetry issue for the coming spring, “Existential Vamp,” “Let’s All Go to the Movies,” and “Last, Shoemaker Stick To.” That is to say, to cover philosophy, nostalgia, and Olde Maxims (or, maybe, logic-based mayhem), respectively. Until finally, today, the decision arrived: Hi, James, thanks again for submitting. I would like to include all three poems in the issue — they are short enough together I think we can make it work, although I may need to drop one for space. So. . . three poems or two?
Well a sale’s a sale (although this one is for glory, not money, but it is a local publication), but I do greatly hope all three get printed. Unlike last year’s two poems on “familiar” monsters (a zombie for the first, a vampire for second), these three poems are purposely widely divergent — which in itself defines a pattern — whereas with two the selection, whichever chosen, would seem (and in this case in fact would be) just random. That is, if asked myself, I would have no means to make a choice — but as Tony notes they are purposely on the short side too. So hopefully there won’t be any problem.
In any event we should find out together, at least those of us local, in just a few months. As the email concludes, [t]he issue should be on the street by the end of April. There will be a showcase reading of poets in the Ryder poetry issue on Wed May 3 at 6 pm at Backspace Gallery on the square. Let me know if you can make that. Thanks again.
