SLUSH PILE
Carlene and I made bets
on which one of us’s novel gets
off the slushpile first
Each of us has a huge thirst
for recognition, some success
(publication) but it’s anyone’s guess
if we’ve got what it takes
to survive rejection, if resolve breaks
during the months of silence from the
faceless
editors or readers, or the graceless
one-line note: Your manuscript returned
herein.
My
fingers already burned
from an attempt at self-publication
would itch to perform strangulation
if my novel suffered such an ignominious
fate
when just the synopsis should indicate
it’s special, different, standing out
from the rest of the pile, because it’s
about
love and sex and deaths and it’s very well
written
Carlene said so. Her fingernails are
bitten
down to the quick. So I reciprocated
Your
story’s beautiful,
while the coffee percolated
and we stared out the window at the rain
waiting, waiting, waiting, we hope not in
vain.
-- Murray Jennings 1st
October, 2015
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