Friday, December 5, 2014

Poem of the Day: "acceptance" by John Reinhart

The Songs of Eretz Poetry Review Poem of the Day for December 5, 2014 is "acceptance" by John Reinhart.  Mr. Reinhart's work also appears in Songs of Eretz Poetry E-zine November 2014 (Volume 2, Issue 2, Number 9) where a brief bio may be found http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/p/e-zine_3.html.

acceptance
John Reinhart

if acceptance is what we look for in lighted
hallways and busy avenues among family
friends and fellow travelers there is no
wonder that writers are idiot masochists,
melancholics paddling upstream with
inadequate equipment just because the
stars swirl marbled custard and the moon
calls for odes, hymns, and haiku, when
acceptance provides enough elevation
to cause bruises at the next fall and next
fall she returns to the trenches, tied to her post,
flames licking wool skirt or fashionable
pant suit, the flames she might apply
to most student work if only to get her
point across – REVISE – which does
not mean correct or edit or rewrite
but re-vision, see again, see anew,
close your eyes to what you think
you know and realize truth in
technicolor created solely for your
particular inner etch-a-sketch…

back at the drawing board drawing
inspiration from denial denying
herself the freedom of failure as
family, friends, and fellow travelers
walk straight lines down neon
streets of promise accepting draft one
as script acceptable for rerun on
daytime network television set
blinded to the light creeping under
the front door, warming the threshold –
the same light she sips carefully,
stores in jars on the windowsill
and breathes in black and white,
in prayers seeking acceptance

Poet's Notes:  I wrote this as much in response to rejections from publishers, as in response to years of reading high school papers. Rejection is a difficult theme in all walks of life, whether in form letters from publishers or red marks on papers. When we carefully conjure our own light, allowing the shadows to fall willy nilly, then we might observe the artistry born of our failures.  


Editor's Note:  I particularly like what Mr. Reinhart did here in the last six lines--waxing poetic as metaphor for waxing poetic.  I also share his pain regarding the receipt of rejections from publishers and having to issue rejections to others.

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