Contest Results Prove it. I am Insane.

April 9, 2009

Some good news today. My poem "Hanford" won 1st place in a regional contest and publication in "Verseweavers." I won the prestigious "Poet's Choice" category. In a couple of weeks at their spring conference, the Oregon State Poetry Association will present me with a certificate and a check for a few shekels. I also get to read my poem to the attendees. This is the first contest I've entered since winning the Willamette Week "Smokin' Word" contest a few years ago. This is a very humbling and satisfying result.

What I really look forward to is meeting the other poets at the conference. Poetry in Oregon is a serious business. I've read the work of many local poets and the level of talent in this state is off the chart. It makes sense when you remember that Oregon poetry is the house that William Stafford built. I started writing seriously in June of last year. It's been very solitary. I realized a few months ago that to grow as a poet, I need to cultivate relationships with other poets and learn from them. Makes sense, no?

For those of you that don't know, I do most of my writing in dialysis. It's taken being pinned to a chair three times a week for four hours at a shot to eliminate the excuses for "not" writing. The process has been slow going. Dialysis isn't exactly gentle and every single minute the treatment progresses my mind slows, dulls, and finally thuds like a dove hitting a window. Let's just say I spend a lot of time in revisions. Honestly, I haven't been able to gauge if my work is any good. I'm often suspicious that I've accidentally hit my head on the diving board while jumping off the deep end. I took me until late February of this year to get the courage to submit my poems to contests and publications. I've asked myself on more than one occasion, "am I completely fucking insane?"

Just so you don't think I'm getting too full of myself, the news of the win came on a day that I received yet another rejection (one of many) from a publication I admire. I was very down, wondering if my words were just spinning in air, breaking up in the tornado. They probably are, but this is confirmation that at least I'm being blown in the right direction.

Click the pictures above to see comedy genius Marty Feldman's Myspace tribute page. It'll cheer you up.