CARL "PAPA" PALMER - DEAR EDITOR

Carl "Papa" Palmer of Old Mill Road in Ridgeway, VA now lives in University Place, WA. He is retired military, retired FAA, now just plain retired enjoying life as Papa to his grand descendants. Carl, Hospice volunteer, is a former Pushcart Prize and Micro Award nominee.    MOTTO: Long Weekends Forever

I received a cookie cutter form letter of rejection from the editor for someone else's poem in my SASE.
That someone else sent me the acceptance letter she received for my poem in her SASE.        
 
My poetic response: this seventeen syllable "precursory curse" villanelle
 
 
Dear Editor,          ​

​I appreciate the time you took to send this rejection letter
about your decision not to publish me or put my work in print,
but I think indeed, you really need to do your rejections better.
 
With your fine job title I felt you'd be the writing standard setter
‘til you rejected me in an SASE someone else had sent.
Should I appreciate the time you took on this rejection letter?
 
My intent’s not meant to anger or put my future chance in fetter
nor is the matter of this patter solely to chastise you or vent,
yet I think indeed, you really need to make your rejections better.
 
Some of my best saved rejections have never fed a paper shredder,
that's how I detect, in retrospect, rhyme and reason to circumvent
the monumental task you took to construct this rejection letter.
 
Try to get the right writer’s name in your rejection letter header
or you may wonder where the submissions for your next edition went.
So I think indeed, you really need to sort your rejections better.
 
In closing, I’ll just make this point I surely hope you will consider:
Always remember you cannot edit what we writers never sent.
Though I appreciate the time you took on your rejection letter,
still I think indeed, you really need to check your rejections better.
 
 
Yours Truly,
Carl “Papa” Palmer ~ writer