Greetings readers!
“Time marches on,” as the country song by Tracy Lawrence goes. And it’s hard to believe that we are already a quarter of the way into 2021.
For me, the past month has been a productive one. Not only have I written several more poems, I also now have enough to fill yet another poetry book. 🙂 This is great news, and I am hoping that by April, I will have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT to make to you all.
If that were not exciting enough, I also have finished not one, but TWO, short stories. As I have stated in several previous newsletters, my hope is to one day soon compile my stories of short fiction into a compendium and have them published. I do have at least a couple more to write before this next step is taken, but I definitely feel good about the progress that has been made.
“What are the stories about?” you ask. 🙂 Well, the first one I completed this past month is what I would call a “heart-render.” It deals with some fairly heavy subject matter, frankly, and is about a young, troubled boy who befriends a courthouse janitor during a heated legal battle. Through their interaction, the boy discovers character and strength that he never knew he had.
And the second story is about a man “hurrying through life” (as so many of us do) who, through a chance encounter at a fast food restaurant, learns to slow down, be patient, and see his fellow human beings for who they really are.
Consider those your “appetizers” as I seek to complete these stories and publish my compendium by the end of this year. 🙂
On a more disappointing note, I did learn this past month that my novella, “Treasure On The James Point,” did not win the Miami (OH) University novella contest that I entered earlier last year. Needless to say, this was not the news I was hoping for, as I was very confident in how this story turned out. However, I am also confident that there is a purpose for everything and that God will use my writing how He sees fit. We each have a destiny, and as such, we each have an obligation to let it unfold how it will.
Speaking of, here is a poem I wrote some time ago, which deals with this similar theme.
Arc of Fate
I would fire a bullet back in time, if I could,
And in so doing change the wiles of fate;
I would alter the destinies of peoples and tyrants,
And in so doing, make man’s fortunes great.
I would fire a bullet back in time, yes it’s true,
And would strike down the evil and oppressive,
Yet in so doing, would my efforts prove fruitful?
Or merely vain, injurious, and regressive?
For the arc of fate bends and turns how it will,
A truth which no gunfire can amend;
Thus ideally may my bullet remain yet unfired,
And may my hands not touch destinies of men.
And yet, men’s respective fates do touch every day,
One by singular, untamable one.
And so perhaps let us thus inspire one another,
By means not involving the gun.
JWG
2020
Have a blessed month! – John
