Year End Wrap Up

As 2024 wraps up, I have eleven publications to report since my last update in May:

On July 2, Green Ink Poetry published “Stinger,” my backyard sonnet about honeybees and mortality in their Summer Solstice issue.

Later in July, The Other Journal published “Homily,” my poem about listening to my Dad’s sermons as a kid, in their “Church” issue.

“Jam,” a short poem about slowing down, saw in Volume 3, Issue 4, page 22 of Gypsophila Zine, published in September.

Troublemaker Firestarter printed their Issue 777 in September and included “Moment of the Moon,” a sonnet that employs the night sky to explain how things are with Warren and me.

In October, Quibble Lit became the latest magazine to publish my poem, “Cargo”. I’m pleased to finally see this poem available online and in public.

Also in October, another sonnet, “Glossolalia,” about life with a stammer, appeared in The Shallot: Journal of Mental Health, Art, and Literature.

Ghost Light Lit included my sonnet, “Aubade,” in their second issue, “Hopeless/Romantic.”

Moss Piglet’s November issue includes “The Shape of Wild Geese Flying,” marking the fourth time this magazine has published one of my poems. Once again, John Bloner, the editor at Krazines, has selected letter-perfect illustrations to accompany the poems in this journal.

Two more of my bits of memoir made their way to publication.

At Thanksgiving time, The Bookends Review presented online “Enormous Goose,” my tale of an encounter with wildlife at the local mall. This was a storiy that I had to write down the very day it happened. One of my lighter stories, I recommend it for a chuckle or two.

Also, the latest issue of moonShine Review went on sale last month, and it includes my story, “Hospitality,” about a meal my family shared at a Howard Johnson’s, when we lived for five years in the storm that was Orangeburg, South Carolina, in the early 1960s. I’m always thrilled when I see one of my pieces published, and there’s a special thrill that comes with seeing my words in print on paper!

Closing out the year, on December 17. Last Syllable Literary Journal, a online magazine specializing in long form poetry, published their third issue. It includes “Names,” my recollection of a road trip Warren and I shared with a bunch of people–maybe half a milion of us–back in 1987. This poem took a long time to finish, and I’m extraordinarily proud of the result.