Short Short

37º ~ terminally gray skies, more rain on the horizon for tonight/tomorrow, no breeze to speak of

Today's post will be a short short.  I am dying to be reading poetry books and journals and writing up my impressions to share with you all.  However, this is the time of the semester when the stress of school starts to build up.  In fact, I have exactly one hour when I could be reading right now; however, just thinking about the to-do list for school prevents me from my focus.  This is one of my areas for improvement: compartmentalization (at least for schoolwork).  I'm all caught up with grading, but I've got a mountain of prep work that I want to complete so that when I get the next round of papers (Thursday), I won't drown.

Sitting to my left is a stack of journals and books, topped by folders of poems and journals that have been sorted for submission.  They call to me.  I answer with guilty looks.

Enough with the whine.  I am blessed to have a full-time position, and I am compensated well for my work.  These are two things that not every community college instructor can say.

The day did get off to a wonderful start with news from James May that New South wants one of the poems I wrote last year.  I do love that journal, which consistently pulls together some of the finest poets working today.  It's also gratifying that some of the newer poems are finding homes.  These are poems that don't fit in the weather manuscript and were written as I cast about for a new direction.  I have no idea if these will make it into the next book, but I'm glad they are finding a readership nevertheless.  So, many thanks to James and all the other fine folks at GSU and New South.  It's a fine way to start the week.

One of my most favorite covers ever!