the a list

 Thank you to Open: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) for selecting my poems "wait" and "bullet" for publication.  These poems contrast each other in an interesting way. the poem "wait" has been a long time coming.  My first draft was registered on December 2, 2023 9:24 AM. and had gone through 35 versions. "bullet" on the other hand was started on March 9, 2025 10:07 PM and went through 20 versions.   What does that tell me?  Probably that some poems take a while? Some come quicker.  All of them require a lot of editing.  

  Got a short, polite email at 7:00 AM this morning from Craig at Zoarium Magazine.   I even got an (entirely unnecessary) apology for taking a vacation and still responding within 11 days.  It was nice to find a home for this poem.  It is filled with ancient memories of my mother's parents (and donuts!)

  Impossible The drawers are lined with messages from the dead, Scattered in with the papers, clips, and keys. These messages - Musty whispers and jots,  Receipts and ticket stubs, Fill the drawers, All the drawers, In all the desks,  In all the buildings,  They are needing transmission to the living. When your time comes  To transmit -  Be it grief or joy - Leave a message in the drawer, So the living might know. Published in Superpresent Magazine, Fall 2021  

  Click on the image below or here to read "rock"

 

My poem "Rock" has been accepted at MORIA Literary Magazine. You'll find the issue here   on May 6th.

 My poem "The Piano" has been published in Cerasus Poetry Magazine .  Its a poem about the challenges of mental health and its impact on my relationship with my mother.  the piano we have the bellies of gum chewing cobras, where guilt and sin metabolize... (click to get your copy)

Can't say I don't enjoy these emails. I'm also glad the poem Cottony found a home. It has been a work in progress for many, many years. And a reminder of the perseverance necessary to get published. .  Since January of 2016, I've made 891 submissions I've written 226 poems that I felt were ready to submit   I've made an average of 127 submissions per year  In those 7 years, 28 poems have been accepted .   About 4 poems per year have been accepted that's a 3% acceptance rate