Two Steps Forward; Three back - Rejections, Poetry, Irish Short Stories

Saturday was just another day where I had goals and did not meet them. I was even up early; albeit not as early as today.

The email continues to daunt me. I am now down to 20 emails. 

I started getting organized to move. Carlos Fuentes was returned to Bracken Library, and on the way back I stopped at Dollar General, I forgot to get cat food,

It was almost six before I finished the laundry; I could not get started until after I got back from journeying around Muncie.

The cat is sick. Wherever he went, I think he ate something bad. When I woke around midnight, I thought maybe he had gotten out. No sign or sound of him. 

 My law school is gone but Valparaiso University has the Valparaiso Poetry Review.

Another rejection arrived for "Their Bright Future":

Thank you for your submission to Bridge. Although we must decline your submission this time, we appreciated the chance to consider it.

Thanks again. Best of luck with this.

Sincerely,

Meghan Lamb

Bridge

One for "Theresa Pressley":

Thank you for submitting your piece to MudRoom for review. We are grateful for your interest in the magazine and the chance to engage with your writing and thinking. Unfortunately, we do not have a place for "Theresa Pressley Attends Michael Devlin's Viewing" in our upcoming issue. We hope it finds a loving home.

Best,

Caroline Rothrock

MudRoom Mag 

 The Guardian's book reviews came in.

Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera review – the contradictions of colonialism had these interesting points about history and colonialism:

And it’s not just the world of plants that was affected by Britain’s colonial ambition. Writing in another chapter that investigates the extraordinary global prominence of British charities and non-governmental organisations, Sanghera identifies the same dynamics at work. Take hunting, for example. Its deep entanglement with ideas of English imperial masculinity was directly responsible for driving various animal species to the brink of extinction around the world. But it was equally the catalyst for the various charities that emerged in response, and for the codification of countless environmental protections. “It’s all true, but the opposite is also true”, as Sanghera puts it. History is not a balance sheet: sometimes it requires that we hold multiple truths in our mind simultaneously. Nations – and individuals – can do great evil at the same time as doing good. And that’s where it gets complicated: sometimes doing what’s considered evil can lead to good, and vice versa.

***

 The propagation of British legal and political frameworks is a case in point. In present-day Mauritius, Nigeria, and India, many of the most restrictive and divisive of state mechanisms, aimed at imposing and retaining the power of certain social groups at the cost of others, have deep colonial roots. It is a credit to Empireworld that it does not turn away from that uncomfortable truth.

History is messy because people are messy. You will find the same messiness in literature if it is honest.

Retaining power is a mark of our own internal imperialism. When we talk about systemic racism, it is this retention of power even after those who imposed the system have left the scene.

 The Irish short story by Anne Enright is a long essay that goes beyond its stated subject into the nature of the short story. It has left me thinking about what is wrong with my short stories (other than an absolute absence of talent), and deserves a longer examination.

Burns Night was last week, and from The Guardian came Re-evaluating Rabbie: the Scottish poets wrestling with Robert Burns’ legacy. That was fun and eye-opening. However, I think the critics may need to ask themselves would they be where they are without Burns?

I think the cat is dying. It keeps acting like it is choking. Well, it had to come. I do not know what I can do to prevent it. He is a good cat.

I have written three posts for the coming days. I will finish this for the day with this one.

The Antiochian Metropolitan is coming to St. George's today. I will be there. Now, I need to get ready.

We have a high wind blowing here and rain. 

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