Burr Ridge, Illinois 01/28/15
delighted to have some of my newer work published in the ever-entertaining HORROR, SLEAZE, TRASH. please check it out. http://www.horrorsleazetrash.com/uncategorized/michele-mcdannold/
Michele McDannold is the author of Stealing the Midnight from a Handful of Days, a book of poetry available from PUNK HOSTAGE PRESS. She was the Editor-in-Chief at Red Fez Publications for five years and is currently the editor/publisher at Citizens for Decent Literature. She has an extensive collection of flannel and rubber chicken heads. For more, please visit michelemcdannold.com.
It’s Time To Train Yourself
it’s time to train yourself
to sleep alone again
and it’s so fucking hard
–Richard Brautigan
it’s not that i don’t think these institutions aren’t well-meaning.. that those recognized with awards, aren’t well-deserving.. simply that’s it’s a reward system that does bear some weight in reaching a larger audience, bears weight on the likelihood to encounter other opportunities with an actual pay scale and other supports for your art.
with that in mind, i am irritated with the placement of an economic barrier in the form of a submission fee, some absolutely ridiculous and just the same even a minimal, makes it completely out of reach for some very deserving and talented individuals.
it’s not about commitment to the work, it’s not about skill– it’s about expendable income. think about it more than two seconds and recognize what a disservice this is all the way around. maybe i’m wrong to think this might be part of the problem with diversity in the literary world?? just to get started. not to mention how narrow the view of things we read, think and talk about by observing such a (important??) factor as what’s in your bank account.
i understand the fees are necessary to support the contest even happening in the first place to some degree. i get it..we get it..money doesn’t drop out of the clear blue sky and the arts get the shaft on what is there on a regular basis, regardless.
so why not keep the fees?.. those who can pay, pay. add an option to submit without a fee for those living in poverty. any number of free and easy ways to verify requests for the free option. we’re used to standing in lines and handing over our certified copies of whatever. no worries. and if someone wants to cheat it that bad, well i guess that shows commitment to their work then, eh?
soon the day comes
in the cold air
now prepped
for a storm
the trucks gathering
anything left not dead
dies soon
they close at sunset
& all the whole day is gloom
inside impending clouds
long after the train, the wind
trails gone into
a tunnel
who is to say
how long these signs
are just a pictograph
of curious patterns
and mismatched currents
Michele McDannold is the author of Stealing the Midnight from a Handful of Days, a book of poetry available from PUNK HOSTAGE PRESS. She was the Editor-in-Chief at Red Fez Publications for five years and is currently the editor/publisher at Citizens for Decent Literature. She has an extensive collection of flannel and rubber chicken heads. For more, please visit michelemcdannold.com.
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