[Terese Coe]

And you're astute, Chris, to see that I was intentionally kind. :-) And sincere too!

John, Long before the internet was invented, individualized rejection letters were indeed a rarity--in fact they were preprinted cards or boilerplate letters for the most part. Still, I've read some good rejection letters in volumes of Letters to writers--nothing this amusing of course. And I wasn't referring to your poems or those of the stalwarts here...there are so many competitions now for whatever...wherever.

This challenge fairly cried out for outrageous responses, and that's what is so good about the chosen winners--that and the fact they won.