So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the seventy-fourth edition. Previous editions can be found on the blog's Newsletter page. I send it out weekly, so if you don't get my email on Saturday morning, please let me know! (Check your junk and spam folders too.) *** It's been forever since January, when I last wrote this newsletter, so I really appreciate your patience in waiting. I have a bumper crop of three poems for you this week. Before I get to them, I wanted to let you know some of the things that are keeping me so busy and away from all this. Naturally, since it's spring, taxes are a thing. And then there were various chores to do, to get ready for Daughter Number Two's trip to Japan (she has landed!) In addition, my son number one with autism is now talking to various voc rehab people, to start considering what kind of job placement might work for him sometime in the future. And of course, there are always the usual errands and appointments. Besides all these joyful happenings, I have also begun attending a few local writer's events. I hope to write about that sometime soon. I attended a reading of a local author and I also attended a group that put on a marketing class, for those who wish to publish on Amazon. Anyway, both were very interesting and friendly and made me wonder why I didn't do any of this sooner. Anyway, I also sent off a few pieces of writing. Two, one story and one poem, went to the Florida Writers Association (FWA) for their Spring issue "Secrets" (cross fingers!) The other one, a poem, was recently accepted by a local 'zine. Quite thrilling! I'll let you know once it's published, so you can check it out! Meanwhile, you can find earlier editions at their Etsy shop The Happy Tapir. I also have a submission out there in the ether, to the Tampa Review Danahy short-story contest, which I'll hear the results on, later this year. It's a long shot, but why not try? As I readthis morning, in a scorpion-stabbing blogpost by Carmen Amato , you have to be brave, to work in this field. Okay, finally-- to the new poems. The first is called My Part and has to do with taking care of things we love, more specifically plants. One reason the success of my Daughter Number One in the gardening area has evaded me is that I just forget or neglect to do whatever's necessary. I do try to be better about it these days, especially since she is far away in England and not around anymore, to correct my errors. Distraction and general lack of energy often prevent us from tending to the things we care about, or more importantly, the things we should care about, like the state of our planet. Writing is just one thing that suffers from such benign neglect. The second poem is called Suggested and is my stab at a topic much in the news these days: Artifical Intelligence. It is written as a love sonnet to AI, though technically, it has a few too many lines (a bow to the English majors among you.) And it isn't very loving. The third poem is called Hermit and describes what happens, when our ambitions are squelched. Writers may identify with this one, too. Hope you enjoy them all and don't be afraid to leave me a comment! Thanks again for subscribing, and for waiting so long! Andrea

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