I received yesterday three rejections: Mid-American Review, The Pinch (formerly River City), and 42opus. Ouch! Getting three rejections at once versus them being spread out makes a big difference as to whether you shrug off rejection or it stings.

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Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private.

--Allen Ginsberg


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The Sloth

In moving-slow he has no Peer.
You ask him something in his Ear,
He thinks about it for a Year;

And, then, before he says a Word
There, upside down (unlike a Bird),
He will assume that you have Heard—

A most Ex-as-per-at-ing Lug.
But should you call his manner Smug,
He’ll sigh and give his Branch a Hug;

Then off again to Sleep he goes,
Still swaying gently by his Toes,
And you just know he knows he knows.


--Theodore Roethke

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RCA Victor

The dog sits by the victrola,
his head cocked, listening
to the voice of his master
and thinking:

How different he looks today,
smaller, like a box,
and his head an ornate
megaphone.

Where are the legs
he needs to walk me?
Where are the hands
that throw my ball?

the dog wonders
and begins to shiver.


--Billy Collins