It always takes a rejection letter for me to write another post. Ahh, sad isn't it. I was working on my camera and new lighting equipments when I got an email that my chapbook had been rejected. I turned off the camera immediately and began to think about terrible thing: "You are not good enough, how will you survive? How will you make money? Why did you choose to become a poet?"
As you can guess, this contest meant a lot to me. But it is not the end of my career. Actually, there are so many more good things coming my way that I cannot even stop to think another negative thought.
A few weeks ago, I started a go-fund-me campaign for my acceptance to VONA. It was such a bold and exciting decision for me. Meanwhile, I had also applied to a conference in Minnesota to study with Jericho Brown and had been accepted two weeks before I got my acceptance to VONA. The only problem was, these two would be in the same week and I had to pick on or the other. I eventually chose the workshop with Jericho Brown, a painful decision as I couldn't defer my acceptance to VONA and will have to reapply next year. Only the favor of God can get me in again and if that's all that matters then I am not bothered.
For everyone who gave me a single dollar to go to VONA I would like to express my sincerest gratitude. I will be attending
three conferences (Minnesota Northwoods, Poem Works, Southampton Writers Conference) in total this year and will actually use some of these funds for those. I thought I owed you all that explanation at least. So this summer,
I will be in Boston, Minnesota and then back to Southampton. I will open the go-fund-me campaign until the end of the year. I am looking for some miracle and more conferences.
I did promise to write each and everyone who gave me a poem. I decided to write a haiku. Hope you all enjoy.
