Dear Editor,
I have written a volume of poetry, a manuscript intended to be read as a body of work by someone with refinement and sensitivity, such as yourself. You should know: I dislike the idea of learning to self-publish and market my writing.
The poetry I have written over my literary years has been piecemealed out to various journals, compilations and contests. There is a wall of popularity that needs to be scaled which leads poetry into the artistic light. The enormous popularity of Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull has never been repeated (unless you count Shel Silverstein), but I believe you will see the possibility of another poetic blockbuster in my work. Unlike Bach or Silverstein, I explore many forms of poetry.
My iambic pentameter is so flawless that I on occasion insert something dactylic just to remind the reader that I am not perfect. Rhyme schemes are small challenge to many, but in my work, they are so subtle my editor thinks I am lying and must read the last word in every line on its own. The sonnets I write make me weep. It is a mission of mine to elevate the limerick to an artistic form. “The Man From Nantucket” will soon be an old soul with elegance and charm.
Some of the many publications that have included my work are: Chicken Leg Quarterly, Wordwemadeup, Fruit on a Hill, The Flying Beaver Monthly, Sparkle Passion, The Purple Pimpernel, Roadkill Observer, Go Back to Sleep (irregularly), Hairy Knuckles, Delores, Where’s the Remote Annual, and Institutional Musings.
Contest winnings highlights are as follows: The Havarti Herald Award for Excellence in Cheese Imagery 2006 (honorable mention), The Garter Belt Prize 2004 (first place), The Sympathetic Monkey Prize for Humane Poetry 2004 (third place), The Mud and Cotton Annual Review 2003 (second place), The Jesus, Mary and Joseph Prize for Mentioning Religion 2001(first place), The What’s That Smell Prize 1999 (third place), and The Over-Microwaved Broccoli Award for Vegetable Imagery 1998 (honorable mention). I was nominated for The Wheelbarrow Handlebars Prize in 2009, which is an award all on its own.
Yours truly,
Bob Verglas
2 comments
kent says:
Dec 22, 2016
Alas….If only the bad submissions were really that good.
Charlene Shiner says:
Dec 22, 2016
Correction: Kubinec’s poem in Roadkill Observer was published in error. We meant to publish instead an exceptionally fine piece of work by Gita Smith. Alas, we had hired a summer intern who got the manuscripts mixed up on the way to the press. We have no proof but do suspect the intern was a relative of Ms. Kubinec.