Unk is the yearning and delight between lovers,
between a person and a beloved activity or thing,
between a person and a spiritual understanding.
Therefore one's Spirit will never die.





Sun 7.18


On my way to the post office to mail 3 chapters of Manhattan Seeress and the memoir's proposal when I spot some pressure-treated wood someone has put out for trash. Looks like an outdoor swing, broken, half inch slats, 2 inches across for back and seat, I can use those to shore up my tomato plants. I'll pick that up on my way back.

Rebecca Strauss from McIntosh & Otis Literary Agency, is the agent who requested the material. Someone at Janklow and Nesbit was also interested. I am getting a better class of literary agencies interested in Manhattan Seeress. Getting an agent is not for the timid. In one week I had one agent tell me, having only read the first chapter (10 pages), that no matter how well written, nobody's interested in reading about my adventure coming to Manhattan, there has to be more psychic material in it. She points to a section where I write on the paranormal and approves it. The other agent tells me, again from reading only the 1st chapter that she is captivated by the factual story, but feels that part of it gets preachy. What part? Yes, the very one the other agent lauded.

By and large these agents come from prestigious schools, are highly educated, and obviously well-read. But they look to the market to assess their choices when picking which writer's work they will represent. What is of interest; what will sell? I have a healthy skepticism about that part of my writing. Who knows? I figure if it's of use someone will publish it.

First class, asks the mail person? Whatever's cheapest. It's only 10 cents more, lady. Well, OK. Lines usually snake around the room on Saturday morning, but today the place is almost empty. It's the heat. Dressed in loose clothing with my trusty parasol at hand, I make my way back home. The swing is still there, a huge thing, part of the seat broken off from the back, and then you've got the legs. Hard to fold up and carry. I'll have to drag it. Sweat is pouring down my face and my body as I make my way around the block and down Manhattan Ave huffing and puffing.

These are the things that on a scorcher of a day will cause me to exert myself, they provide satisfaction and passion in my life, but more than that, peace, pleasure. I am able to salvage 6 good slats about 4 feet tall for the tomatoes, and then there's the back of the swing that looks interesting with a parabola shaped top, straight sides and bottom holding the slats within. Nice weathered wood. I'll do something with it. I work in the garden in the early morning before the sun comes round.

And then there's the script, before I left for the P.O., I read my manuscript proposal with a nod, yes, it's good, professional. Louise Bogan, a New York poet who was originally from Livermore Falls, Maine, once said that all she needed was one room with a piano in it to live and do her work. Never mind the piano, I say, I'd rather have a garden.

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Current favorite this past month has been Circles & Squares