In uncertain times, one thing remains immutable: storytelling is crucial and people can –and must– find ways to create, share, and connect. Everything is changing. Nothing has changed.
–from 1455’s Movable Type, Issue 4 (peruse the complete archives, here).
By almost any standard –overall productivity, number of pieces published, a first collection of poetry released– 2021 was likely the most active and positive one I’ve had in some time, if not ever. Of course, it’s not about the publications but the process. Or put another way, it’s more important (and meaningful) to feel satisfied with the work, and less so what happens to it. That said, the goal of serious writing is to engage, and a successful effort initiates some type of dialogue, or connection, bringing full circle what begins, necessarily, as a deeply personal act created in isolation.
Thinking back on a year where we expected profound change (some of it happened, certain things we hoped or expected for didn’t, and in many ways we are sadly back to a sort of stalemate we experienced almost two years ago), I felt at times informed, infuriated, and inspired, which seems just about right. Throughout the year I found myself recalling the legend of King Canute and his imperious attempt to repel the tides. In simpler times, this allegory spoke succinctly and indelibly to man’s hubris, as well as our impermanence. Today, the perverse synergy of our action and inaction (all we do, all we’re not doing)—driven by greed, abetted by denial—suggests a profound disconnect between the world we imagine and the one we’re busy creating, in our image. Once again, we must find the words that lead to action, cognizant that both change and hope begin inside our minds and hearts.
Onward to 2022, and let’s hope for continued conversation and connection.
January
Himmler’s First Blasphemy, courtesy of Exterminating Angel.
Sonny Rollins’s Bridge, courtesy of Burningword Literary Journal (nominated for 2021 Best of Net Award).
Donald Trump, The End of an Error
Billie Holiday’s Deathbed, courtesy of The Decolonial Passage (nominated for the Pushcart Prize).
February
What Gets Heard When Men Won’t Speak, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
Rahsaan Kirk’s Dream, courtesy of Jerry Jazz Musician.
My Father’s Silence, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
Rush Limbaugh: America’s Cultural Cancer
March
Private Pyle’s Pain, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
The Things Prepping for a Colonoscopy Procedure Prepares You For, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
On Seeing a Scanned Polaroid of a Friend Before a Grateful Dead Concert, circa 1980-something, courtesy of Sepia.
What Scares You, Sean Murphy?, courtesy of taralaskowski.com
April
As The Obituary Section Gets Bigger, courtesy of Exterminating Angel.
Introducing The Blackened Blues.
May
Inheritance, courtesy of The Rush.
Booker Little’s Deliverance, courtesy of Jerry Jazz Musician.
July
A Personal History of Everything, courtesy of Reflex Press.
Henry Chinaski’s Horses, courtesy of JMWW
The old man on the beach with a metal detector, courtesy of Exterminating Angel.
The Blackened Blues, courtesy of Finishing Line Press
August
Drunk White Dudes Fighting, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
Charlie Watts: The Rock of the Rolling Stones, via Medium.
Can Your Family Afford to Lose You?, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
Eternity Doesn’t Die: An Appreciation of Lee “Scratch” Perry, via Medium.
Jake LaMotta’s Rage, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
Things that scared me in the ’70s, courtesy of Oyster River Pages.
September
Q&A with Justen Ahren / Reading from The Blackened Blues, via 1455.
Chickens, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
A Brief Catalog of Mostly Forgivable Thoughts, courtesy of The Tiny Journal.
Five Things You Need to Write Powerful and Evocative Poetry, courtesy of Authority Magazine.
Me Three, courtesy of The Good Men Project.
October
Adaptation, courtesy of The Wayfarer.
South Loudoun Street, After Midnight Tonight, courtesy of This is What America Looks Like (anthology)
The Blackened Blues: A Reading at Shenandoah University
November
Captain Ahab’s Oil, courtesy of The Decadent Review.
December
Something to Remember Me By, courtesy of The Daily Drunk.
Sun Ra’s Spaceship, courtesy of Jerry Jazz Musician.
Even the Ugly Blueberry, Knights & Squires, and Dog is God Backwards or Vice Versa, courtesy of Ink Pantry.
Karma Sutra, courtesy of MAYDAY.
A Reading from The Blackened Blues, courtesy of WordShedNYC.
