“unfailing” & other writing ramblings

It’s been since May 28th since I submitted work to the journals I talked about before, and I have yet to hear from them. Response time for these places can sometimes be up to a couple of months, so I’m not really worried. To tell you the truth, some days I completely forget I’m waiting for my rejection e-mails and other days I wonder when I’ll hear back. I’m fully prepared for the rejection, I’d just really like to see what they have to say so I can revise my work and write new stuff in a better fashion. But until then…

Today I am going to start my 4th short story (working at that goal I spoke of) and hopefully get somewhere. I want to outline the whole story before starting to write this time–I mean outline down to the detail so that I know what to write instead of struggling with a plot halfway through. I typically say “ok, this story will be about this” and then start writing, but sometimes I write myself into a corner and I have no idea to get to the place I originally wanted to go. So this time I’m going to try an outline. And I am going to tell myself it’s not complete crap once it’s written… since that’s how I usually feel after I’ve read one of my own stories.

While I work on getting some new stuff written, here’s a poem I wrote not that long ago. The language could be more succinct, more tight… but I often find that wordiness is my problem. And, funny enough, my poetry is the one place I use the least amount of words. Any suggestions on this poem are welcomed with open arms.

unfailing

a silk shirt on a wire hanger
never stays in place

roses growing in the garden
always get cut down

lone shoe in the road
never finds a mate

stop signs in the desert
always go unnoticed

a woman crying in a cafe
never misses a stare

the vagrant on the corner
always has an empty cup

your whisperings in the night
never can be believed

my backbone in your presence
always seems to disappear

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  • http://theboywholikesto.blogspot.com Robbie

    Good poem. Wish I could help but you seem to be really good – plus I'm rubbish when it comes to poetry/English.

    Although it you want some inspiration for short stories I've always loved Stanley Donwoods stuff. You should check out his site.
    http://www.slowlydownward.com/index.html

  • Shelby Stidham

    Thank you for the compliment. Although, reading poetry written by other up-and-comers makes me feel like my stuff is pretty juvenile. It's hard to accept everyone has their own style of writing.

    I'll check out the site, just the URL sounds interesting!

  • http://beautytips.wp-mu.assurancenetwork.net Valda Nush

    I very much like your website. Awesome posts! Please keep posting such good cotent.

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