On "Accident, Mass. Ave." by Jill McDonough

This poem is all about the tension and compassion sparked between strangers in a city that is known for its tough reputation, all over a minor accident where no actual harm was done.

It illustrates how people don't stop and assess the damage done before they start hurling angry obscenities at each other and threatening to sue. At the very end I found that the women's violent reactions to one another came out of fear, sort of like they were venting angry words as a way of chastising one another for creating such a scare. Feelings such as anger and frustration often seem to be rooted in fear.

The poem points out that people should forgive each other for making mistakes, even if they could have caused a large amount of damage. There was no need for angry outbursts on either woman's part. There was no damage done to their vehicles, the women themselves were not harmed. Someone was at fault but in the end no one got hurt. What is there to yell about?

I think that what the author is trying to communicate is that in this day and age, in a large city where many people think they have to look out for number one all the time and where stress and tension runs so high that all it takes is one tap on the shoulder for someone to snap at another person, people need to look up from their tightly wound tunnel vision and assess the situation before they start pointing fingers and taking out their anger on the other person involved. Anger and resentment gets you nowhere.

New Voices Editorial Experience

Although there were more submissions to go through for New Voices than there were for Dust and Fire, I thought that the elimination process was a lot quicker than it was for Dust and Fire. That could be because students in the class were given the option to reread rejected manuscripts for a second opinion. Initially I did not choose that option, but I ended up reading through at least one or two No packets in order to help save a few poems and short stories from elimination. I found that I enjoyed a few of them upon reading them for a second time.

While reading through prose submissions, I found that there were a lot of fantasy stories, some fairly grounded in reality with extraordinary characters and events while others were set in other worlds inhabited by creatures like centaurs and elves and other mythical beings that often confused and amused me all at once. Fantasy is not exactly my cup of tea, but then again I am just one reader without complete devotion to any specific genre. I also had to keep in mind that these are young writers who are just starting to get their feet wet with writing poems and short stories.

I had some trouble adjusting to the genres. Most submissions were fantasy, horror or suspense, and a few even bordered on noire fiction. I was impressed with the level of creativity that these writers utilized in their pieces. However, I was a little disappointed that there were no creative nonfiction pieces--again, my personal preference is speaking out for I tend to read a lot of nonfiction these days.

Overall I had a bit more fun with New Voices. It took me back to the books I used to read in high school and also the stuff I used to write about in high school. I had to switch back into the teenage mindset in order to get into the mood and become more open-minded about the pieces I was reading.