That giant sucking sound...

…I heard this year was the whoosh of all forty-three of my poem submissions being sucked into the maw of rejection. Almost twice as many as in 2014. And let me tell you, it hurt. It hurts. Am I wallowing here? I am wallowing a little. But I am also still submitting. Ten new submissions in 2016 so far. And even if the giant sucking sound starts up again in 3, 2, 1, I am grateful for a super talented writing group, who I am lucky just to get to sit in the same room with; and for family and friends who help ease the sting of rejection. They love me no matter what. They joke with me. When I tell them I realized the whole year's worth of 2015 submissions was one giant whiff, they say, "Well, it's a good thing you don't need external validation." They tell me the editors are idiots. Then they go back to teasing me for being addicted to kale salad. And life goes on.