Writing from Inside the Thunderstorm, Fall Color, and Submission Season

Lightning Strikes Seattle (photo by Tim Durkan – what a view!)

Writing from Inside the Thunderstorm

I’m writing tonight from inside one of the most intense thunderstorms Seattle has seen in over 20 years, with over 1200 lightning strikes in about 45 minutes – not a big deal for other places I’ve lived but a big deal here – cancelling concerts, emptying stadiums, knocking out lights all over the city. If I’m honest, I miss the thunderstorms from my childhood – smelling the electricity in the air, the sound of hail against the windows, the stirring up of everything.

Fall wreath

Fall Color in September

And stirring up was in order – just yesterday it was 80 degrees and sunny, more like midsummer than almost-autumn. I went to get my hair cut-and-colored for September and after we walked around in the sunshine on the edge of Lake Washington, almost too hot, posing with some still-blooming roses.

I put up this wreath, and boom! Autumn feels like it’s arrived at our doorstep. I’ve been taking pictures around Woodinville to show that fall color is coming, although the grass is still dry and brown and the leaves haven’t started to change on my trees yet. I also captured a couple of birds – a Steller’s jay and a junco with a sunflower seed in its mouth. The last blooms of September are really something to celebrate – orange dahlias, roses last gasp, vibrant snapdragons, even a pumpkin peeking out or two. These orange dahlias made me want to plant a big patch of orange dahlias somewhere.

Submission Season – September

Yes, submission season for poets has started in earnest, and I’ve been revising my two book manuscripts, and writing new poems, and gathering poems into groups for different journals. I’m also ready to start reading for real again – I mean, doesn’t September suggest the reading of serious literature, for things that make you think? What are you reading to get you in the mood for fall?

Thinking hard about where to send book manuscripts and which journals to send new poems. It reminds me of the birds showing their plumage and the flowers showing off their brightest color right before they disappear. We are all trying to get noticed, poets, birds, petals – an evolutionary imperative. I think that the last couple of years have given me more perspective, but also given me the desire to aim a little higher, work a little harder on making the poems and manuscripts the best they can be. When my brain is working, and I have energy, I have to remember to work during those times. With multiple sclerosis, you can’t take emotional or mental energy for granted.

There’s a certain amount of luck, chaos, and sheer force of will involved in sending out your work and getting published. Submitting poems during a thunderstorm seems somehow appropriate.