Don't Muzzle the Ghazal

A Life Review

When one dies, the heirs sort through the deceased's physical possessions, deciding how to dispose of them. Sometimes there'a bonfire of what the survivors see as useless, although there has to be some reason the deceased hung on to that stuff. Going through someone's possessions after their death is an impromptu review of the life that has ended.

I'm just concluding that kind of life review of my career at Missouri University of Science & Technology. (It was the University of Missouri at Rolla when I came here.) Even though I have given away and traded off many books over the years, there were still more than a dozen sizable boxes in my office. I had two four-drawer filing cabinets and desk full of files and papers of various sorts. (Not to mention oddments of computer cables and several dollar bills I found in envelopes. I have no idea where that money came from.)

I packed eight boxes to go to the university archives. They contain files for courses, files for committees and task forces I worked on, files of department activities, a large amount of correspondence, and various manuscripts that I don't expect to work on again. There were some photographs of me and of a visiting poet or two. I was poetry editor for the journal, Christianity and Literature, from 1975 - 1983. That activity accounts for a lot of the correspondence, and the archives will also include the issues for which I was poetry editor.

I offered books to colleagues, family, and students. Several people took a number of books, or there would be two or three more boxes full of them. I still have some books and desktop items to pick up. Then I will turn in my keys.

All of this sorting and packing was a life review by me of myself. That was unexpected, but I got a view of some important aspects of my life that I hadn't had before. I don't really identify with that man who was known as Eugene Warren until 1988. He seems like a close friend from the past, not me myself. Overall, this process was encouraging. There were some disappointments, but I was already aware of them. What had faded out of memory was the accomplishments. Reviewing them gives me heart as I enter this new phase of my life.

A Moon in June isn't Actually a Boon

Just a quick note on a couple of things.

The June issue is late (obviously). I hope to work on it this weekend and get it posted. I have two other projects in mind that I hope to publish this summer, in July and August. One of these is a tenth anniversary issue of The Ghazal Page. I'll describe the other later.

The second thing is that the tercet challenge remains open for about 12 days. I have a number of good tercet ghazals in hand and hope to see more. The response to the challenge is encouraging.

There are some other ghazals from new contributors that will be published over the next few months. In four weeks, I'll be retired and expect to spend more time working on The Ghazal Page. This blog should see more frequent posts then as well.

Two New Issues

A little late, but . . . there are two relatively new issues of The Ghazal Page online. I hope you enjoy them!

First, the Stone Radif Challenge issue. I received nearly two dozen good ghazals for this challenge. The individual ghazals work together to create a multi-faceted meditation on "stone."

Secomd, the May 2009 issue. The ghazals for this issue accumulated over a period of months. As submissions arrived, a theme developed. These six ghazals all relate to summer, with appropriate freshness and lightness.

A sidenote: I prefer to see the seasons beginning on the traditional dates for the temperate climate zone; thus, summer begins on 1 May. Thus, midsummer's day comes in mid-June, around the summer solstice that is conventionally thought of as the beginning of summer.

A last item: the tercet challenge runs until June 15. There are some good ghazals in this form in the folder already. Why don't you send some more?

Not a "Gotchya!" (but it is April Fools' Day)

The previously announced April Fools' issue of The Ghazal Page is online now. I hope you will visit it and find the half-dozen poems there amusing and provocative. These ghazals aren't practical jokes or tricks, but they are, variously, funny. playful, intense . . . . When the first two or three of these poems were submitted, I wasn't sure whether to use them. While I like them, the tone of the poems didn't seem to fit into the tone of most issues of the 'zine.

Then I thought, Why not a special issue? As a few other ghazals with unusual tone showed up, the "April Fools'" title seemed like a good idea. April Fools', yes, but I promise not send out a message that you've been tricked!

How Not to Get Your Poems Published

Every aspiring poet, many perspiring poets, and perhaps a few expiring ones as well, should know how not to get one's poems published. As we all know, achieving publication is pretty easy: there is an abundance of eager editors ready to accept and publish almost any verse that comes in in postal or electronic mail. Here is how to get that coveted rejection notice, or, even better, a totally silent non-response to your submitted poems.

• Send any poems to any publication you have contact information for. If you have a postal or electronic address, fire off some poems. Don't bother to look at the journal to find out the kind of poems it has published. After all, you wouldn't want to appear to cater to the editor.
• Absolutely do not search out editorial guidelines for submission. Editors like to list the number of poems to be sent, the type of poem they're interested in, the schedule by which the editor wants to receive submissions. Only an amateur, lacking in self-confidence, would conform to such editorial whims.
• Send a lot of poems each time you submit. Let an editor say, "Send no more than six poems." Send thirty, forty, one hundred. How presumptuous of the editor to think that he or she can judge your poems on such slight samples.
• Do not include any request to the editor that he or she read your poems. Don't  give the editor the satisfaction of your saying why you are sending these poems. If you show any courtesy in your correspondence, the editor will quickly realize that you are an inexperienced novice to be completely ignored.
• In contrast to the point above, send a long letter with your submission. Explain why you wrote each poem, what it means, what its specific beauties are, and demand that the editor respond by telling you how great your poetry is (and by extension, how great you are).

Follow these simple points, and surely you will not be embarrassed by having any of your poems actually published. After all, aren't the truest geniuses those whom no one has heard of?

April Fools' Ghazals, Coming Up!

In the last few months, several people sent me humorous or satirical ghazals. Almost all the ghazals on The Ghazal Page are pretty serious, with any humor or lightness being in a witty phrase or metaphor. I wasn't sure what to do with the ghazals referenced in the first sentence — and then I remembered April Fools' Day! These ghazals will appear online on 1 April, give or take an international dateline. This issue is not a prank, although maybe I should've done that.

As far as I can tell, April Fools' Day is a European observance (and North America too). I hope that readers from non-April Fools' cultures will appreciate this silliness.

Crows Caw

I've messed with yoga for a number of years, mostly self-taught from books. My town now has a movement studio -- andFLEW! -- with excellent classes in everything from ballroom dancing to t'ai chi to yoga. I attended my first early morning class (6:30) today and remembered a haiku I wrote a couple of decades ago:

yoga at sunrise
distant crows caw as I
become a cobra

from Nose to Nose, by Gene Doty. Brooks Books, 1998.

As a result of this morning's practice, I have felt looser and lighter all day. Although I haven't heard crows cawing, I did see and hear swallows calling in two notes as they swooped and circled overhead.

I heard the swallows while walking my dog; she looked up at their cries but lost interest quickly. They have remained with me as part of the yoga of this cold cloudy day.

And? -- learn your form, develop it, and then relax into it. Don't forget to breathe!

Nominated for the Rhysling Award

J. E. Stanley, a regular contributor to The Ghazal Page, has a ghazal nominated for the Rhysling Award. The ghazal was his contribution to the Moon Radif Challenge Issue. The ghazal is "Lunaticus (in D Minor)." The Rhysling Award is sponsored annually by the Science Fiction Poetry Association. If you go to the SFPA site, you can find information on the Rhyslings, their journal, Star*Line, and other topics. I recommend a visit.

Jim Stanley tells me that Joshua Gage, another contributor to the Ghazal Page has three poems nominated for the Rhysling this year. He and Josh are both members of the Cleveland Speculators. Following this link will take you to a 2008 bibliography of members' publications. You'll see that both Josh and Jim were very active in 2008.

Congratulations to both poets on their nominations for the Rhysling Award.

Another Way to Contribute to The Ghazal Page

I've finally done something I've been thinking about for awhile — set up a PayPal "Donate" button on the main page of The Ghazal Page. For ten years, I have happily paid the expenses associated with publishing The Ghazal Page myself. The specific expenses are for hosting online, registering the domain name, and hosting the blog. Other expenses are for our ISP and our computer equipment, which we obviously use for other things beside The Ghazal Page. Since I use Linux only for work on The Ghazal Page, the only software-related expenses are donations I make to the providers of the open source software I use.

One reason that I'm taking this step now is my upcoming retirement with its reduction in income. We expect to do fine when I've retired, but there will not be as much money coming in as there has been.

Should you decide to donate to The Ghazal Page, you have my heartfelt thanks.

Ten Years of The Ghazal Page

Next August, The Ghazal Page will be ten years old. What I'm thinking right now is a special issue with a poem from each of the ten years, to be published in September. That's only ten ghazals, but it seems to me right now that a tight focus would be good.

Once I'm retired and have (supposedly!) more time, I'm also thinking of compiling an anthology of ghazals from The Ghazal Page and seeking a hard copy publisher for it.

If anyone reading this has an opinion or suggestion, let me know.