For poetry submissions, both the process and responses are often, as a king might have sung, A Puzzlement.

————

Each jigsaw puzzle is unique;

its image and the cut of every piece

will fit just one way—neo-Greek,

completing it, a search for Jason’s fleece.

Although another piece may fit,

unless the image blends without a glitch,

if left there, like an eye with grit,

it leaves you with an irritating itch.

And so, submissions I submit

have perfect shapes, wherever they belong,

but far too often just don’t fit—

the editors prefer I sang a different song.

Yet all those bumps and knobs and tabs

of puzzling pieces not retained for long

ensure my writing’s up for grabs—

“not right for this” is not condemned as wrong.

By Ken Gosse

From: United States

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