December 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE
Dear Villagers,
One of the privileges of editing Verse-Virtual is that I get to read and enjoy every poem that will be in the issue before anyone else does. Whether it's a poem that has never been submitted anywhere else, or a poem that was published years ago, it is part of a new collection that is unique. Because you, as a group, send me lots of good poems, I never have to worry that there won't be enough to fill each month's issue of the journal.
To each of you, I offer my sincere gratitude for your participation in this community. So many different voices, such varied life experiences, vastly different levels of poetry education, certainly distinct personalities, and yet here you are. You have accepted the Prime Directive of Verse-Virtual: Kindness or Silence. No one poet in this group has a monopoly on what constitutes good/better/best poetry, though there are certainly some strong opinions about it. But this group is not about what is or is not good poetry. There are other forums for that. Verse-Virtual is about respect, and support, and finding friendships through shared poetry. It is about being able to feel excitement for success that is not your own. With several hundred members in the Facebook V-V group and on the email list, it is a testament to the vision of the founder of Verse-Virtual that the group is doing what he dreamed it would. So thank you, thank you, for being a place where the welcome mat is always out. Please invite your friends.
This year has been difficult for everyone I know, though it has certainly hit some much harder than others. I will confess that it has left me exhausted. Publishing a monthly journal, even one the size of Verse-Virtual requires time, energy, and patience and those are sometimes hard for me to find. I struggle to keep a balance between being patient and kind, and holding people accountable for following the submission guidelines. I totally get that all of us are imperfect, and mistakes happen. I make my share and that tempers my responses, or at least mutes them so you don't hear what I'm thinking. I will only say this: I'm surprised and dismayed when I get submissions from long-time members of the community who follow essentially none of the guidelines, but feel that they have a right to be published, just because. That's not going to fly in the new year. If your submission flagrantly ignores the guidelines, I won't read it, and I won't respond. As much as I regret it, I know that will cause some hard feelings. If that happens, then I will make the logical deduction that you don't really want to be part of the community, you just want to see your poetry published, and I will wish you a gentle but firm farewell.
Submissions for the January issue are open from December 1 through December 10. Submission guidelines are HERE. There is no theme for January, so send me those good poems you have been working on. Or the good ones you published long ago that need to be seen again. I am eager to read them.
Jim
One of the privileges of editing Verse-Virtual is that I get to read and enjoy every poem that will be in the issue before anyone else does. Whether it's a poem that has never been submitted anywhere else, or a poem that was published years ago, it is part of a new collection that is unique. Because you, as a group, send me lots of good poems, I never have to worry that there won't be enough to fill each month's issue of the journal.
To each of you, I offer my sincere gratitude for your participation in this community. So many different voices, such varied life experiences, vastly different levels of poetry education, certainly distinct personalities, and yet here you are. You have accepted the Prime Directive of Verse-Virtual: Kindness or Silence. No one poet in this group has a monopoly on what constitutes good/better/best poetry, though there are certainly some strong opinions about it. But this group is not about what is or is not good poetry. There are other forums for that. Verse-Virtual is about respect, and support, and finding friendships through shared poetry. It is about being able to feel excitement for success that is not your own. With several hundred members in the Facebook V-V group and on the email list, it is a testament to the vision of the founder of Verse-Virtual that the group is doing what he dreamed it would. So thank you, thank you, for being a place where the welcome mat is always out. Please invite your friends.
This year has been difficult for everyone I know, though it has certainly hit some much harder than others. I will confess that it has left me exhausted. Publishing a monthly journal, even one the size of Verse-Virtual requires time, energy, and patience and those are sometimes hard for me to find. I struggle to keep a balance between being patient and kind, and holding people accountable for following the submission guidelines. I totally get that all of us are imperfect, and mistakes happen. I make my share and that tempers my responses, or at least mutes them so you don't hear what I'm thinking. I will only say this: I'm surprised and dismayed when I get submissions from long-time members of the community who follow essentially none of the guidelines, but feel that they have a right to be published, just because. That's not going to fly in the new year. If your submission flagrantly ignores the guidelines, I won't read it, and I won't respond. As much as I regret it, I know that will cause some hard feelings. If that happens, then I will make the logical deduction that you don't really want to be part of the community, you just want to see your poetry published, and I will wish you a gentle but firm farewell.
Submissions for the January issue are open from December 1 through December 10. Submission guidelines are HERE. There is no theme for January, so send me those good poems you have been working on. Or the good ones you published long ago that need to be seen again. I am eager to read them.
Jim