[Mark McDonnell]

Congrats Julie, that's such an wonderful, accomplished sonnet. Your "most rejected poem"! Ahh...the whole thing is baffling...

[Julie Steiner]

Originally Posted by Roger Slater

(I remember the poem, but not giving you any particularly useful help with it).

Ha! Read this post of yours, and my own post immediately after it. A few hours later, I wrote the first draft of this sonnet. The debt that I owe you for nudging me in that direction is pretty undeniable, Rogerbob, even if you don't remember, and probably had no intention of doing so. (And for the record, you won your argument with me, too: although I wrote it because I wanted to rise to your challenge, in the end I didn't feel that this poem would be the right fit with First Things, so I never submitted it there.)

Thanks for the encouragement, John, Ann, Maryann, Matt, and Mark. I'm glad to have your good wishes.

Originally Posted by Matt Q

I think this may well be the best way to do news-related poetry. Write the poem well in advance and wait for the news to catch up with you

Yes, it's a news-related poetry strategy I've employed before. Sadly, some topics, such as the clergy sex scandal, are bound to turn up in the news over and over again....

[Catherine Chandler]

Julie,


Congratulations on the publication of your sonnet. Definitely not for First Things!



And you were right about some topics turning up in the news over and over again.....

[Vera Ignatowitsch]

I enjoyed this lovely sonnet, Julie.

[Susan McLean]

Julie, when I read this poem by Linda Pastan, I thought of you and the "write about the news before it happens" advice. Writing premature obituary poems for anyone you choose has so much potential, and you can be certain the news will catch up with the poem eventually.

https://plumepoetry.com/my-obituary/

Susan

[John Isbell]

Susan: "and you can be certain the news will catch up with the poem eventually."
It's funny how that works!

Cheers,
John

[Julie Steiner]

Thanks, Catherine, Vera, Susan, and John.

Oh, those poor kids, Catherine.

Susan, thanks for the Pastan poem.

[Phil Bulman]

Nice, very thoughtful and penetrating.
Love the final line!
Glad you were persistent in finding a publisher. That's the way it goes with prophets, you know; first efforts are always rejected.