March Trickles Away

My shoulder has been giving me trouble this week. I know it is a symptom of stress, and I have to take care of it (and myself) before it gets worse and I fall apart. So even though I have a lot of things I'd like to do, I have to remember to prioritize and do the things that mean the most. March seems like it has zoomed by, though I'm happy to see the sun more, have more days above freezing, and to see daffodils popping up in our yard (even though the dog likes to dig them up and eat the bulbs).

I got 4 packets of poems out today, which brings me current to having everything out. I'm not sure if the individual poems were the best matches to the magazines I sent them to, but I don't usually have luck when I'm trying to match well, so I'm hoping for some serendipity. A certain big-name magazine frustrated me, though. Their web page said nothing about being closed for submissions, but their online submit form would only take submissions for their book contest. I'm not sure if they were just too lazy to update their submissions page saying that they were only reading one thing at a time, or if it was an oversight and they didn't know they only gave people one option. Either way, there is no way to contact them to clarify, so I sent my poems elsewhere.

I have not finished either of the books I planned to read for March. I am a little disappointed about it, though I know it was because I have been focused on getting some library books read before they're due back tomorrow. I hope I can tackle them this weekend. Even though they will not be read in March, I don't want to have a bunch of them pile up to be read. Truthfully, I'd like to take a week off work and read some of the books of poetry I've bought and haven't gotten to yet.

Also thinking about trying out Kelli Russell Agodon's 30 prompts for National Poetry Month 2011. Poetry prompts are difficult for me, because even though I might sit down and not feel inspired, I feel like what comes out of prompts is dry and useless. These look pretty good, though, and I want to give them a try! I have to remind myself that April starts tomorrow, though!