SASE

the business

of anything creative

is grueling.

you just want to splash

paint down,

throw words onto the page.

edit.

and move on.

you don't want to put

the new

poem into an envelope

and wait five

months for a student

editor to accept

or reject your piece.

SASE, they insist,

return postage.

a cover letter, tell us

who are,

describe in detail what

this is.

we pay in copies, or two

cents per line.

be patient, we get two

thousand

poems a month, and we

don't read

between may and august.

good luck.