I realize that editors of journals and 'zines have many things to do, and I understand if what I have sent them isn't going to work for them (see below). Still, when they request SASEs, I include one. How hard can it be to grab for one of those pre-printed rejection notes (see below), stuff it in the envelope, and drop it in the pile of out-going mail? Seriously, I have waited 335 days for
Earth's Daughters, 256 days for
Chattahoochee Review, and 227 days for
Alimentum. It is rude. Plus, I use my interesting stamps--the Robert Rauschenbergs, the kelp forests--because I know I will (or would) appreciate them when (if) they show up.
The poem you see below is to be read down each column, then across both lines. The first column is taken verbatim from a form rejection letter (in one of those SASEs) that the editor did send me.
Co-axial Response to a Snippy Form Rejection Letter
Since poetry is…….…sparks against darkness, conceived
in general……………..in private, so easily snuffed by
such a subjective…….random draft, made yet not made. Seek
art, I’ve found………..no solace; try to wait, go make a place,
it better not…………...be here. Fear makes us hasty;
to comment…………..too soon is like cursing the unborn,
poems simply do not….like locking up fledglings in a wooden prison
suit……………………that forbids turning to see. But never mind
my personal…………limits. Sparks transform wood.
taste………………….Only what results, emerges—nothing else concerns us.
