Poem of the Day: "acceptance" by John Reinhart

The Songs of Eretz Poetry Review Poem of the Day for December 5, 2014 is "acceptance" by John Reinhart.  Mr. Reinhart's work also appears in Songs of Eretz Poetry E-zine November 2014 (Volume 2, Issue 2, Number 9) where a brief bio may be found http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/p/e-zine_3.html.

acceptance

John Reinhart

if acceptance is what we look for in lighted

hallways and busy avenues among family

friends and fellow travelers there is no

wonder that writers are idiot masochists,

melancholics paddling upstream with

inadequate equipment just because the

stars swirl marbled custard and the moon

calls for odes, hymns, and haiku, when

acceptance provides enough elevation

to cause bruises at the next fall and next

fall she returns to the trenches, tied to her post,

flames licking wool skirt or fashionable

pant suit, the flames she might apply

to most student work if only to get her

point across – REVISE – which does

not mean correct or edit or rewrite

but re-vision, see again, see anew,

close your eyes to what you think

you know and realize truth in

technicolor created solely for your

particular inner etch-a-sketch…

back at the drawing board drawing

inspiration from denial denying

herself the freedom of failure as

family, friends, and fellow travelers

walk straight lines down neon

streets of promise accepting draft one

as script acceptable for rerun on

daytime network television set

blinded to the light creeping under

the front door, warming the threshold –

the same light she sips carefully,

stores in jars on the windowsill

and breathes in black and white,

in prayers seeking acceptance

Poet's Notes:  I wrote this as much in response to rejections from publishers, as in response to years of reading high school papers. Rejection is a difficult theme in all walks of life, whether in form letters from publishers or red marks on papers. When we carefully conjure our own light, allowing the shadows to fall willy nilly, then we might observe the artistry born of our failures.  

Editor's Note:  I particularly like what Mr. Reinhart did here in the last six lines--waxing poetic as metaphor for waxing poetic.  I also share his pain regarding the receipt of rejections from publishers and having to issue rejections to others.