Quiet, everybody; Susan said something!

Ah, yes, as promised, the  Fourteen Hills literary journal cover. It's wild and spectacular. The cover art is by Stephen Albair. I am very excited to have a poem appearing in this wonderful journal. I've loved Fourteen Hills for years, and I'll say probably once a year for at least oh, the past eight years, I've sent a manuscript to them for consideration. Perseverance means so much in this poetry business. You've got to have the right work at the right time, right there at the right place, and even in the right hands under the right circumstances. Everything matters in terms of timing because this art, like other arts, is brutally subjective. 
There's a backstory to this poem appearing in Fourteen Hills. Of all places, the genesis for the piece came from Facebook. Someone had written a post, and a new friend of mine, Susan Klein, whom I didn't know except virtually, but liked immensely, made a remark which I riffed on. I gave an offhand series of staccato responses to a subject matter I find basically gross and finished off my cluster with a responsive kicker. Left it at that. Moved on. Ten minutes later, I heard a "ping" at the computer, saw there was a comment, clicked to read it, and Susan had left a remark for me -- "That's a Zen poem!" 
A little polishing here, snipping there and cementing altogether, and most especially, knowing when to back away and leave a little one alone, and there the compact poem stood. And now it is proud to have a home under this striking cover:

Susan Klein

Which just goes to show you, you never know. So if this intricate, dazzling woman makes a comment your way about something of value to you, you might want to listen extra hard for your own good. Word to the wise.