Triggerfish Acceptance

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POEMS To Appear In TRIGGERFISH

Last November, Triggerfish Critical Review accepted three of my poems for publication in their July issue. I am especially grateful to Editor Dave Mehler for his comments about my poems:

I have to tell you, I'm excited about your poems... The whimsicality, the delicacy and subtlety of humor, and the evidence of Christian faith, all of which is rare.  Your poems will be a joy to publish.

The poems are: 1) “Common Story Among Strangers;” 2) “I Pray;” and 3) “On the Verge of Holy.” Triggerfish is an online journal that explores the “why” of poetry—why we read poems and why we want to share them. 

1. “Common Story Among Strangers” is a meditation on the influence of religion in our lives. Given the barrage of information and ideas today, there are constant challenges to any belief system. 
2. “I Pray” is something of a complaint about a relationship. No friendship or affair can survive without emotional commitment from both partners.
3. “On the Verge of Holy” speaks to our inclination to try too hard to be good. It’s a question of how good do we have to be before we become a hardship to ourselves and others. 

I have learned that I shouldn’t write when I’m in a bad mood. In responding to Editor Dave Mehler, I bemoaned what I consider the esoteric nature of much of contemporary poetry. The easy part of appreciating poetry is to read traditional favorites, such as T.S. Eliot and Robert Frost. It’s more demanding and time consuming to support contemporary poets and publishers who are searching for the poems that captivate the imagination of a new generation. I should write a poem about “sometimes I’m a whiner.”

My thanks to Editor Dave Mehler and the Triggerfish Advisory Board, Greg Grummer, Lynn Otto, and Steve Parker for making the publication of my poems possible.