Blog Squatters, Birthdays & Other Matters

I

Yesterday evening as I posted the entry that you presently see under Sunday October, 22, denoting that I would be taking a break from blogging, a “Blog Squatter” proceeded to post their announcements as comments under three separate posts. Now I don’t mind doing a little PR for somebody if they let me know about it, but an ad hoc comment which is simply an advertisement and doesn’t even feign interest in the post at hand is pretty low in my book.

Well needless to say, this infuriated me. And I said to hell with this hiatus. Nobody is going to hijack this blog. Whatever this reader thinks about it, it has my stamp on it and it is something I developed on my own without anybody else’s input. I realized that I cared enough about its existence that I deleted the offensive comments and made some editorial decisions regarding its content. This ain’t over by a long shot.



II

Yet another birthday is upon me and as a result it has me reflecting on this year’s yield and consequently I am reevaluating what I have accomplished with my blog. First, I must say that this blog has exceeded my expectations. Going into this, I hadn’t expected any readership. I did not anticipate that it would take off at all. After all, this blog grew out of the need to collect my thoughts on poetics and figurative art. By doing so I realized how much my tastes ran parallel in both domains.

Art had always been there for me. Growing up, I could always immerse myself in a composition in whatever medium. Painting and drawing were always second nature to me. Poetry has been a recent development. But here too I have already surpassed expectations. I started writing in 2001; started publishing in 2002 and have published over 35 poems in 23 journals & anthologies. Considering the turn-around time for most journals, I consider these figures to be quite good (at least by my standards).

What has eluded me so far mainly due to the fact that I have sent out a grand total of 2 MS. and have yet to enter a contest is publication of a chapbook. Perhaps, however, it is time to either put up or shut up. Book publication has not been a priority for me. I did not want to publish just for the sake of publishing. I wanted to be published when I had amassed enough material that I though worthy enough. I believe I have enough poems of worth to warrant a chapbook. And so I have started to entertain the thought.



III

Lastly, I am thankful that this community of poets (many of them are on my blogroll) has accepted me “tel comme je suis”. They have linked to me in greater number than I had ever thought possible without my intercession. But more importantly they have commented on what I have tried to communicate here in this on-line journal. Grazie a tutti!

I would also like to thank those of you who have sent me e-mails to the effect that I should continue blogging. Many pointed out that my blog was listed on their blogrolls and that they enjoyed my slant on things. But one e-mail in particular caught my attention as it directed me to something which had escaped me. This e-mail directed my attention to the fact that my poetry at The Arabesques Review is among the most popular receiving over 800 hits and counting. Furthermore, the poem “No.249 on the S.S. Saturnia” is highlighted in the “What’s in This Current Issue” blurb.

I am to say the least very happy about this. It means that my poetry is reaching readers that I never thought it would. It means to me that it is registering with the reader. Then I realized that that is the kind of success that I had wanted all along. It hadn’t been about the books or the critical acclaim. It had always been about the poem and the reader. So that whatever, I get coming to me after this is only icing on the cake. And yes, I really mean that!