Rejection Slip

I'm back from vacation. Didn't go anywhere just stayed around the house and recuperated from ten months since my last vacation. Nothing but relaxing, reading and writing. It was nice.

I did receive my 1st rejection slip though. Woo hoo!

I actually smiled when I got it. I knew what it was by the self-addressed stamped envelope. Before opening it, I held it up to the sunlight as if somehow confirming to myself exactly what it was. I could see the narrow strip of paper the size of a sales receipt inside the sealed envelope.
My wife, who had brought in the mail from the mailbox was standing nearby, asking what it was.

"It's a rejection slip." I said, smiling. "My first one!"

Somehow I felt I'd finally joined the ranks of some, (no make that all), of famous poets that had come before me. I immediately thought of Sylvia Plath, for some unexplained reason. Of how many of those little rejection slips she had received in her brief lifetime. Even after she became well known.

"Who's it from?" my wife asked. "How do you know that's what it is?"

I told her I could tell by the S.A.S.E.

I opened it...

It was from the Apalachee Review, and read:

Dear Contributor:
We have read your submission with interest but find it does not meet our needs. It may be helpful for you to get an idea of our interests and to see the typical style and subject matter of contributions we have accepted. A subscription for two issues is $15. The latest issue is available for $8. Back issues are $5. each.

The Editors

Will I subscribe? Doubtful. Will I submit to them again? Most assuredly. Did I toss the rejection slip into the trash? Heck no! I'm going to frame it.

Keep writing

~ J