#(that shit used to pissss meeeee offff. i hate literary magazine readers. it's a fool's job and i can say it bc i've been the fool)

[britneyshakespeare]

you know. back when i reviewed poetry submissions for [insert unnamed literary magazine here], i once got a submission containing only two poems (you could submit up to five) both of which were about the author's older brothers, whose names are dan and john (my older brothers' names are dan and jon...athan) and her relationship w them and descriptions of them were not all that unlike my own brothers. still one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me

#i understand my brother's do not have the most exotic names in the anglophone world #(although this was an international outlet and we frequently got pleeenty of submissions from non-anglophone countries) #(in fact one of the reasons i got sick of it over time was seeing too many worthy poems be rejected for bullshit reasons #and that seemed to happen in especially high numbers to poems from perspectives of other cultures/international issues #that i found to be very well-crafted and objectively deserving! but u can only afford to publish so many poems a week right #so u have to pass over the vast majority of stuff. so u have to grasp at reasons like 'the voice is too close' whatever tf that means) #(that shit used to pissss meeeee offff. i hate literary magazine readers. it's a fool's job and i can say it bc i've been the fool) #however that being said. what a coincidence #tales from diana #they were good poems too. i think i gave them a thumbs up before they were eventually rejected like most other thigns that are worthwhile #did i ever mention the literary publishing world is bullshit? bc it is #especially especially the poetry side of it. completely bullshit and so out of touch w how ppl read and appreciate poetry nowadays #no wonder that shit makes no money. well that and nobody wants to pay for it anyway #but when it comes to my poetry i have no problem being a starving artist. i never made a dollar from my work #but i don't think my work has ever been worth a dollar. it's never COST me a dollar either #and as far as i'm concerned i don't really want to be appreciated much for it #not that i ever have been. well. lol #but it wasn't about me bc i have reviewed thousands of submissions but only submitted to like... a handful of outlets over time #and having been on both sides of that equation. i do think that that's not for me #sometimes i do think about self-publishing but i don't even think the work of that would feel worth it to me #and if i were to do that i would probably do it under a pen name. #i don't have a collection of poems. i just have poems. thousands of em. #if i ever get around to writing those plays i have outlined in my head i might consider it though #bring back the closet drama