(///tripled.obstruction.stubble – Matsuyama, Japan)
Dave was excited
His book was finally done
Publication time!
A first rejection
No problem to try again.
Again. And again.
Twelve rejections now
Obstruction at every turn
Time to change tactics
He wrote to agents
Twenty five altogether
Most didn’t reply
He was downhearted
He felt his writing was good
This wasn’t justice
Time for some support
He joined a writing circle
They all shared their work
Advice was given.
He tinkered, polished, refined
The book was better
A competition!
He submitted three chapters
Nowhere near top ten
He tried short stories
The magazines all said no
Constant obstruction
Dave sat mournfully
Fingers ran through his stubble
He drained his whisky
Nothing else to try
He dreaded the one thing left
But he had no choice
I’m not good enough!
Time to face reality
Dave put down his pen
He got on with life
Working, cooking, gardening
All days passed the same
Until a message
His old friend Roger Mason
Want to grab a drink?
Roger spoke calmly
Forget what everyone says
Do it just for you
The work is enough
Enjoy what you’ve created
And experiment!
Dave felt much better
Just write for the fun of it
Try different forms
Drama. Poetry.
Stories with vowels tripled
Birds as kangaroos
There was a young writer called Dave
Whose publishing prospects were grave
But limericks were fun
So he made up a ton
And felt happy that he could also break the rules of limericks and write whatever last line he wanted to finish his story with.
_____
what3stories 