Not Better, Just Different

When Steve Wheeler asked me to be on the editorial team for the new #4 Edition of the ongoing Wheelsong Anthology Series I was  both thrilled,… and a bit troubled.

I am first and foremost a poet. I have been on the tail end of plenty of rejections… on and off many lists. Yet I was also an editor on my college literary magazine for three years. I understand what it takes to put a book to bed, and respect the tedious process.

Selecting poems for this upcoming book was not an easy task. I read and read for hours! I gave EVERY POEM as much attention as I would want an editor to give mine.

There were over 500 entries in two weeks. Many poets did not make it due to a number of reasons. Publisher and Editor In Chief Steve Wheeler put it best in a recent communique to Invisible Poet Facebook Group moderators:

“The editors worked long hours to wade through more than 500 anonymised submissions. I can guarantee the selection was fair and rigorous. Most poems were rejected for a number of reasons, including length, focus, emotional impact, grammatical and syntactical integrity, intelligability and potential appeal to a wide readership. The message to everyone is, this is a group effort, try not to take things personally, and keep supporting this initiative as it gains momentum. We are only just starting.”

Wheelsong Publishing really does represent the finest intentions of the poetry publishing business. The idea of promoting premiere class poets with an emphasis on charity for Save The Children is one that I am proud to be a part of, and work relentlessly at.

The simple fact is that no poet is better… only different. We are all growing as artists, some perhaps a little further than others. However, we are all growing artists, no matter what “level” we are on. I remain an administrator on Invisible Poets and a moderator on Wheelsong Poetry Facebook Groups  to humbly encourage upcoming poets. 

Although there is no way I could have enough time to possibly read EVERY poem on both groups, I am but one soul out of two teams of capable and caring leaders dedicated to supporting our members, no matter what their skill level. Every poet is special, every voice needs to be heard, every perspective is valid on its own merits. 

If you did it make it this time, congratulations! If you did not, get ready for the next Anthology… the next book… the next opportunity to get better! Buckle down. Try different content, different forms, different expressions, different perspectives…

When I got rejected, it only made me try all the harder. Finally, after all that rejection… all that work… all those many poems, I was lucky enough to be published. I still have not become the best poet I can be, and will not be stopped until I am. Never better than any other poet…. just different. Thanks for reading, and write on poet sisters and brothers.

Matt Elmore

Is It Poetry Or “Journaling”?

Did you keep a personal journal when you were younger? Something to share feelings about strange exciting things you were experiencing you couldn’t articulate to others? Maybe just an intimate chronicle of your times?

One aspect of poetry I have found to be a most controversial one in my past is the question of just how personal can a poem get before it is considered something other than poetry?

I was an editor for the Western Illinois University annual college literary magazine for three years, taking it completely over my last year. It was a quality collection of poems, short stories, photography,… I was the first to introduce strip art into the mix. My team and I were very proud of the eclectic diversity.

The only conflict I had with the director and English professor overseeing our cumulative affair was in what she called “journaling”, or just writing out feelings on something and calling it poetry.  She didn’t believe it had a place in our book.

I tended to agree with her. Many submissions at that level tend to reflect that flavor of direction. However, I argued up and down for one application that I thought was cleverly worded and poetically expressed a relatable emotion. She still said it was journaling. I still put it in there! I’m glad I did.

Many poets using poetry as a therapeutic device tend to lean into this approach. I’ve always considered art as subjective, and one poet can never be “better than” or “nowhere close to” another. I’ve had my doubts of course… especially when reading the brilliant works of many of the modern poets today! But it really does come down to comparing “apples to oranges” as colleague and master editor Steve Wheeler once put it, which eased my worries immensely. 

Themes such as lost love and failures of so many colors consecrate the graves of most journalistic poetry. They are generally identified in detailed circumstances surrounding a relatable and often obvious theme.

Don’t get me wrong. I wrote one today and didn’t even consider putting it out there, but I did. A section of which as follows…

                                        —

fatalistic

…innocence psychoanalyzed by wisdom

gives way to shorts in an electrical brain 

snapping my tongue uncharacteristically 

freezing a gratuitous patience paralyzed 

forcing awkward damage control apologies 

eventually apologizing for my very existence 

hampering hankerings to do something wild

only because it hurts more than it ever did 

physically mentally spiritually life forces me

to become something I never wanted to be…

…fatalistic…

©️penned by: m.e.

                                       —

Be honest!!! 

I enthusiastically encourage you to be the editor here… is this poetry or just “journaling”?!

I appreciate your comments as always! Please feel free to contribute your feelings on this article below and thank you so much for reading! 

Matt Elmore