In an authentic drawl
“I should have been a country record producer,” he said
between puffs on his cigarette. It was a familiar
lament, and I responded as I usually do.
“Why is that, Dad?”
“Because I know that when you resort to strings,
you’re either desperate or dead.”
I nodded.
----Kabuki Circus
The circus came and went.
A one-night stand in a nondescript town.
The advance publicity consisted entirely of
posters nailed to telephone poles.
The trucks arrived in the morning,
the tent went up in the afternoon,
and by midnight the lot was empty.
---I recently subscribed to The Lilliput Review, a poetry journal produced only in print (quaint) and featuring poems no longer than ten lines. These two poems meet that simple criterion, though I'm reluctant to submit them. Never done that before.
Sorry I think I posted a comment in the wrong place.
ReplyDeleteI really like Kabuki Circus - it's light and sad at the same time.
cracking stuff.
Thanks,
Robin.
JH:
ReplyDeleteYou should never hesitate to send work; at the same time, always follow your best instinct.
Send up to 9 poems, 3 per page, anytime. The worse that can happen is I bounce them and promptly ask for 9 more.
That's how it works.
Thought you'd be interested in the following post on Brautigan I ran across this morning:
http://haydensferryreview.blogspot.com/2008/
08/cover-lover-poor-old-richard-brautigan.html
best,
Don @ Lilliput Review
Submit. Submit them now, you bastard!
ReplyDelete(I have the same trepidation about my short plays.)
Well, the editor beat me to it, but I'll echo his advice. I like them, esp. the first. Go for it! Also, thanks for the notice about Lilliput...think I'll give 'em a try myself!
ReplyDeleteDear Jilted, Mr. Don, Brendon, and Greg:
ReplyDeleteThanks! I appreciate the comments. I will try to gather up some bits and pieces of poems lying about the house, hammer them into something interesting (or at least something that won't fall apart after a few weeks, like that 9th grade bird feeder did), and submit them.
Submit! If you don't I will personally come over to your house and bury you under all of the rejection letters I have personally received in the past ten years.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's good to start small. The first poem of mine to be published in a real literary journal was in a little journal called 100 Words. That was the maximum length of any submission.