Dear Editor

Although your organization
is supremely successful
and its accompanying
literary publication has received
numerous accolades,
after careful consideration
I regret to inform you
that your magazine
is essentially not compatible
with the quality of my work,
and, regretfully, I am forced
to reject it
as a platform for my poetry.

While I personally enjoy
your publication, however, I find
far too many misjudgments
in your representation
of "good poetry"
and truthfully, I prefer
my writing to be included
in the “real thing”,
rather than a spin-off
of literary excellence.

I find your literary journal—
and I use that term loosely—
unsuitable for my poetry,
but this should in no way
reflect upon you
as a publisher, nor
should it deter you
from soliciting poetry—
elsewhere

© Monica Ellen Smith