A tough lesson
Alternate title: the poem that isn't published (yet)
Back in December 2023, I got not one, but two pieces of exciting news. The first was that my poem “Brood X” had been accepted by FERAL. The second piece of exciting news was that another poem, “Dermestid dreams of decay” had been accepted into a journal of science and art called Seisma. These acceptances came only days apart and I couldn’t believe the good news.
Seisma had more steps involved in the acceptance process, and I simply did not do it correctly. I missed the final step confirming I accepted the acceptance (?). Unfortunately, they also did not follow up when they noticed (I assume they noticed) that I missed the final step. You can no doubt see where this is going. The issue came out (the entomology issue) and my poem was not there. It took me that long to realize that I had messed something up. Honestly, I am still kind of stunned that this mishap occurred, but there is nothing I can do about it now.
This was certainly a tough lesson, and severely disappointing, as the Entomology issue of Seisma is a beautiful thing (see above photo). BUT, I am taking comfort in the fact that the poem was accepted, even though it didn’t make it into the final publication.
Currently reading: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
Recent internet search of note: Herman the Surgeon