This post might stretch or shake your beliefs. Or, it might confirm them. You decide.
Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a character with monomania. In some ways, that could apply to me. For example, a few months ago I started digging the Beat Generation of the 1940's and 50's. That included the writings from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.
Indeed, Jack Kerouac somehow got into my skull in a bit of a monomaniacal way, and I really started studying his poetry. I even went so far as to add a "RIP Kerouac" reminder on my calendar on October 21 to quietly raise a glass to honor his passing on October 21, 1969.
So, I was studying his poems and writing a few of my own in homage. I submitted one, called "Crack a Brew" to the Literary Orphans Journal. I even told the editors that I was intentionally emulating the 50's Beat style.
I was thrilled when they accepted my Beat poem today. Then a chill ran on spider legs up my neck when, minutes later, my calendar popped up with my "RIP Kerouac" reminder.
Let's ponder the staggeringly unlikely quantum alignment that just occurred.
On the very day that I intended to honor a lost artist, I received an acceptance of a poem written to honor his style. Pretty cool, huh?
So, sometime tonight, give a moment of silence or a moment of screaming or a moment of laughing to one of the great ones. I will too.
~ Mick, S.D.G.
