We enjoyed reading it,
Maggie our intern in particular,
Who brought it to our meeting in tears.
It was the awkward but earnest wit of the thing,
How the odd font made us remember –
Nothing specific, just remember,
Even the typos were delightful accidents,
Serving their metaphors like clown butlers.
Thank you so much. Unfortunately,

We must pass, we must pass at this time,
We hope it finds a home,
A place to be, even far from our own.
We wish you luck. What is luck?
Luck is you, writing poems every day.
Please send more. Unfortunately,
We must pass, always. Life is a sadness.
Still, regret is a kind of poetry –
We hope you have enjoyed ours,
Thanks so much for sharing yours.

(Unpublished, and never will be! Editors aren’t going to respond well to an ode about their rejection notices – although there’s now a literary magazine inspired by the formula rejection notice. Of course, with acceptance rates typically around 1%-5%, rejections are part of the deal if you try to publish. Poetry editors have to wade through hundreds or even thousands of poems a year to find a few dozen that fit their needs. It’s not easy for poets, or for them.)