a stranger’s email said she adored

a book of mine so there was something like joy

around here for 6 minutes when the book’s

publisher emailed to say he’d declared it

out of print & decided not to pursue

a second printing

 

his email groaned on about distributors

accounts receivable

remainder houses

perceived readerships

printing & storage costs & the horrid sales of his

translations of Irish poets & he expressed

 

no appreciation for the characters

in my book or for the various kind

reviews & blurbs & readers over the years

 

he offered no humor

or warmth

or request to maintain friendship

no reason to smile

even wanly there was just

at best the sight

of the last of his thoughts

& a period & his name there was just my

finger clicking where needed

to make all those words

go away

 

 

 

dear contributor

we realize it’s been several

years since we’ve accepted your work

but this is to let you know that from now on each

issue of our magazine

will be roughly 120-130 pages instead

of 240-260

this could possibly affect the publication

date of your work by pushing it

back a year or in some cases 2

we would still love to run your work but if you’d like

to withdraw it we certainly

understand & please just let us know

we are sorry for any inconvenience this might

cause & wish you continued success with your

writing p.s. we also feel compelled

to inform you that due

to financial pressure we’ve considered

a cessation

of publication altogether

at the same time please

don’t think this

a demand that you subscribe

or a threat regarding

what might

happen if you simply

continue writing poems

thus allowing our fate

& yours to play out