when you are close

I received a very kind handwritten note from the Beloit Poetry Journal on Friday, telling me one poem almost made it and explained that the sixth stanza was what did it.

At first, I felt disheartened--almost?! I wanted to call out, "Take the stanza out then! Just slide it out, like a hard boiled egg, I do not mind." I blindly trust editors, but I know that's not enough.

It has boomeranged back out, along with the three other companion poems, and I will be content with my handwritten note, hope I can write a row of new poems to send to them again.

more in the mail

For the prose poem contest

{holding breath}

Dear Editors,

During the day, I am a high school English teacher, but in the quiet moments in between, I write poetry--in the creases of my hands, in the margins of my students' papers, in a notebook kept surreptitiously tucked under my arm. I hope to one day revive and live out the dream of attending an MFA program, though for now, I will keep that mortgage afloat.

Things that have been haunting me in recent poetry: my grandfather's battle with Alzheimer's, honeybees, and the geography of overcoming. I am getting married in the summer, so for now the "K" is part of my pen name, though I plan to make it permanent come August.

Enclosed you will find several poems for your consideration, including a ghazal to appease your hungry need for this unique form and two run of the mill free verse poems.

Thank you,
MSK