Dear Editor

Dear Editor

I received a cookie-cutter form letter of rejection from the editor for someone else’s poem in my SASE. That someone else sent me the acceptance letter she received for my poem in her SASE.

My poetic response: this seventeen syllable ‘precursory curse’ villanelle.

Dear Editor,

I appreciate the time you took to send this rejection letter about your decision not to publish me or put my work in print, but I think, indeed, you really need to do your rejections better.

With your fine job title I felt you'd be the writing standard setter ‘til you rejected me in an SASE someone else had sent. Should I appreciate the time you took on this rejection letter?

My intent is not to anger or put my future chance in fetter, nor is the matter of this patter solely to chastise you or vent, yet I think, indeed, you really need to make your rejections better.

Some of my best saved rejections have never fed a paper shredder; that's how I detect, in retrospect, rhyme and reason to circumvent the monumental task you took to construct this rejection letter.

Try to get the right writer’s name in your rejection letter header or you may wonder where the submissions for your next edition went. So I think, indeed, you really need to sort your rejections better.

In closing, I’ll just make this point I surely hope you will consider: Always remember you cannot edit what we writers never sent. Though I appreciate the time you took on your rejection letter, still I think, indeed, you really need to check your rejections better.

Yours Truly, Carl ‘Papa’ Palmer ~ writer

By Carl ‘Papa’ Palmer. Carl is originally from Old Mill Road in Ridgeway, Virginia, and now lives in University Place, Washington. He is retired from the military and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and is enjoying life as ‘Papa’ to his grand-descendants and being a Franciscan Hospice volunteer. PAPA’s MOTTO: Long Weekends Forever!