My first poem ever
“officially” published…
“At Bonfire’s Heart” was released 20 March 2001 in the
anthology Woven Magic, ISBN 1582355576.
At Bonfire's Heart
Time is slowing to an embarrassed crawl
as rising flames coil and recoil
in undulating shifts of yellows, reds,
oranges, purples, greens, and blues;
the tempo seductive to my mind and eye;
the warmth tantalizing my skin;
my flesh reveling in the comfort;
I am thrilled by the sounds of heated consumption.
Now blossoming, emanating from the searing coals---
-- a dancer---- AH!
I am captured by the lithe, supple, swirling, coaxing figure,
beckoning my presence,
riveting my attention to the raw energy,
begging my participation in its torrid ballet.
Lost in this fiery dance, entranced,
I scarcely feel the cold breath of winter at my back,
so close am I to being fully engulfed,
to being hand in hand, within the flame,
to being willing to dance with the fire.
“Box” was my second poem to be "officially"
published. It was released 20 June 2001
in the anthology Tears and Triumphs, ISBN 0795150016.
Box
An empty box along the road,
the drafts of vehicles gone by,
to draw it into the traffic,
have pushed and pulled to no avail.
An empty box along the road,
the plows and snows have pushed afar,
"Rubbish!" they wrongly said---
No, a castaway.
An empty box along the road,
amid the grass and weeds:
a home now for the creatures small,
a refuge to all little ones who flee---
along the road.
Both
of these poems were published by The International
Library of Poetry, now called LULU Poetry (still the same poetry.com
website). I suggest that writers
carefully research how and with whom they might publish their works, and seriously
consider my following experiences with TILOP before submitting any work to LULU
Poetry, or to anyone else.
The
International Library of Poetry (poetry.com) initially seemed
responsive to my submissions. After
“At Bonfire’s Heart”
was accepted, I signed up for and bought one copy of the anthology in which
“At Bonfire’s Heart”
was published. TILOP did not give
an author a gratis copy for having been accepted or published by
them. TILOP anthologies were priced
around $50.00 each at the time. For
someone who had never been published before, it was exciting to have a hard
copy containing my own poetry, so I allowed my eagerness to own a copy of my
published work to override my better sense.
As it later became evident, TILOP was only allowing a writer to have one
accepted poem per anthology. That
publication limit, of one poem per anthology, was not made clear until after
publication. From an author's
perspective, that limitation made the cost per publication truly
cost-prohibitive, especially if one wanted multiple copies of the book, and
particularly when most authors yearn to see whole books of their material
published, rather than single pieces scattered about.
After
TILOP had published those first two poems, I waited patiently, hoping that they
might change their publication limits and publish multiple poems by the same
author per anthology. I allowed them to
sit on six more of my poems in their publication queue for over a year, but
TILOP did not publish even one more of my poems during that time. After several unfruitful emails and phone
calls to TILOP during that year, to inquire about the status of my poems
and to attempt to encourage their expeditious publication, I retracted the
remaining unpublished works to submit them elsewhere. From my experience, it becomes obvious that
the principle of the old Roman saying of "caveat emptor" remains very
much as true today as it was when first spoken.
May the Good
Lord Bless You as You Seek Him!
*******
Please feel free to send
real personal email to me at CMARSZ at EARTHLINK dot NET
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