Winged Things

A Magpie Tale

The ostrich has fine wings, the chicken, too,
the sleek penguin, the eminent emu.
If true birds cannot soar, then why should I,
too ponderous to hop, attempt to fly?
Yet since these plumes, unasked, began to grow,
I've wondered if my possibilities
extend beyond just standing on my toes.
Can I thrive beyond the land I know?
And so I cast my trunk into the skies,
and buoyed up by new dreams, begin to rise.

Graceful Winged Elephants by Jean de Brunhoff

Among the more fictitious of my compositions are those I imagine when submitting a piece to a contest or publisher.  In my nervous hope, I try to decide how I would announce to the world that my work has actually been accepted, chosen. 

Now that it has, I'm not sure what to say.  The news feels like a winged elephant--astonishing, but solid.  And quite graceful.  So I'll trumpet it in your ear:

My story, "Foreign Exchange," has won the Publisher's Choice award in LDS Publisher's 2011 Christmas Story Contest! 

Thank you to Tess and the flock of Magpies that have inspired and encouraged my writing.  May the graceful winged elephants lend you their courage, perserverance, and patience as well.