My 2011 (poetry and otherwise) in review.

Late yesterday afternoon, my wife and I were dining with friends at a seafood restaurant in Simi Valley.

The food arrived a bit late and we complained to the waiter; he apologized, explained in his defense that he was the only person working in our section of the restaurant and gave us free desserts.

I'll say tbis about the difference between complaining at a restaurant and being outspoken (i.e. violating the tacitly-enforced rule of public silence) about things you aren't happy with in the poetry scene: at least the waiter (or manager) doesn't tell customers to open their own restaurant if they don't like the food and service.

As 2011 ends, I look at my record-of-sorts in poetry and it's mixed.

On the positive side, I submitted to a few online journals and was accepted by most of them.  I did some features in the Bay Area in October (as I have since 2004); they were well-received.

Regarding the negative portion of the ledger: I offended people who were either oversensitive (regrettably, a couple of acquaintanceships with poets were lost) or, to put it mildly, don't like criticism/contrariness from someone they consider an artistic/moral inferior.  And I'm still banned from a venue in Orange County--this mark-of-Cain-of-sorts will enter its ninth year in 2012. 

I retired from the LA scene (not for the first time) in November and became semi-retired after participating in a couple of open-mikes in the last week and a half.

Like a lot of other people, I look forward to an improved 2012.

It will be fifteen years since I first began writing poetry and I hope to have three of my books available for the first time in e-book format.

And I'm planning to contine my support of other poets and poetry institutions; it's what we as writers should and must do.

Last of all: I'm happy to be loved by my wife Valarie and our four cats (counting the neighbor cat who comes over most days each week for food and affection); they keep me going in good days and bad.