Dan's Bait & Tackle

Certainty

There’s only two things I hate in this world: people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the Dutch.
~Nigel Powers

I admire your conviction, your passion, and your sincerity.
But what if everything you espouse is almost,
but not quite,
right?

Brother Jed,
campus minister,
was 100% certain in his beliefs. I got
him alone once. We had a normal,
civilized conversation devoid of hate and rhetoric. He told me that
college kids had heard a message of love and forgiveness
their entire lives. It worked for lots of them. But some,

he said,

some needed to be called
sinners, harlots, and worse.
Some needed to be shocked,
shamed, and stunned into
hearing The Good News.

Brother Jed’s lieutenants watched his
children play quietly
while students
picked Jed up, carried him
to the water’s edge,
and threw him in Mirror Lake.

I’m humbled and honored to have been invited by J. S. Graustein, managing editor of Folded Word, to edit their weekly “Pic of the Week.” You can read the archives here, then check out the current prompt by following @picficprompt on Twitter. Submit at SubMishMash, and see the selection on Twitter @picfic.

It sounds more complicated than it really is. Just surf on over to PicFic and take it from there.

I’m been selected as one of May’s “Dirty Dozen” by Vestal Review. The form is… “Stories of precisely 12 words (plus ONE word for the title). They have to be somewhat risqué, but not X-rated.” Check it out at Vestal Review’s website and in the forthcoming print issue later this year.

Maybe I’m missing out on golden opportunity to endear myself to the editors, but I rarely include a meaningful cover letter with my submissions. I don’t want to appear overly impressed with myself, especially since there’s damn little to impress anyone. Any thoughts from my fellow writers, or editors?