[W.F. Lantry]

Hey, folks,

So, last week some time (not sure of the date, but it was clearly *after* the England-USA soccer match), Kate said to me:

"I need a poem. Satirical. In the style of Swift. About the best of times and the worst. At least 30 lines. Today!"

"Aww, do I have to?"

"Yes. And no soup for you until it's done! Now, get to it. You're burning daylight."

A little research to find a stanza the Dean actually used, a few jokes, one of them at Roethke's expense, and another at Housman's, I saved and sent. She whisked it off across the pond.

A few days later, it came whisking back, darn it all! But it was too topical to let it sit around... how long are people going to remember the english goalkeeper's muff? So she sent it somewhere else. It went up today, at new verse news.

She really is amazing. She got four poems taken in Singapore. I really like that one, it's issue two, and the first issue featured Annie Finch. She got five taken in India (Can't link to that, it's still in proofs). And six are about to come out in an anthology in Massachusetts.

And when we got back from Pennsylvania, our copy of the Texas Poetry Calendar was waiting for us. Inside, I was delighted to find my Fourmicide, about doing battle with Fire Ants in Houston.

The woman is truly unstoppable. This evening, I was telling a colleague the Swift story, and he said "Marrying her was the best thing you ever did." He's right about that!

Thanks,

Bill

[Allen Tice]

Felicitations indeed.


(I'm glad you didn't send it to Italy. That's a no-no today.)

[Janice D. Soderling]

I love Acc Member threads. They really should be called the Gossip Corner. Or People to Read & Places to Try.

I also love your clever, clever NVN poems, Bill. What a way to start my day.

The Walnut Literary Review looks like a very nice venue to try for (if I am not double-triple jinxed by self-aggrandizing ). After midsummer. Thanks to Kate you have 48 hours in your day, but I have only 24.

Congratulations on all these accomplishments.