Rejection

The literary magazine called Rattle is going to do an issue some time next year that will be devoted to Canadian poets. Well done, California. Way to wave to the people up north. I plan on submitting some of my work from my MFA thesis.

I recently submitted poems to this magazine in October. I got the rejection letter today, but I turned right around and sent them another five poems. I’m optimistic that maybe one of them might find its place in their archives.

You know, it's strange, but rejections just don't bother me all that much. This is just one more reason why it’s great to have a theatre background. We are used to rejections. You audition for a part, you're just not right for the role, so they don't cast you. It's the same with poetry. You send your work, it just doesn't fit their style, so they don't accept it. You move on and submit more poems to more journals and eventually you find one that fits.

I’ve been lucky this year and I’m extremely grateful. So far, I’ve had four good-news replies. It is only natural that it should be balanced with at least an equal number of rejections. It is all subjective. Some people take it too personally.