NEW POETRY

TO THE EDITOR

who ends a pretty

rejection note

with Please Keep Writing,

I want to tell you

that it is like telling coneflowers

to keep blooming

or the sun to keep burning.

For 4.603 billion years,

the sun’s been clouded,

eclipsed, covered in spots,

called a yellow dwarf,

and still,

it shines on like a Pink Floyd crazy diamond,

heating to nourish,

renewing with fire,

just like my pen.

XXXXXXX

Nancy Byrne Iannucci is a librarian and poet who lives with her two cats: Nash and Emily Dickinson.  San Pedro River Review, 34 Orchard, Defenestration, Hobo Camp Review, Bending Genres, The Mantle, Typehouse Literary Magazine, and Glass: a Poetry Journal are some of the places you will find her. She is the author of four chapbooks, Temptation of Wood (Nixes Mate Review, 2018), Goblin Fruit (Impspired, 2021), Primitive Prayer (Plan B Press, fall 2022), and Hummingbirds and Cigarettes (forthcoming via Bottlecap Press). Visit her at www.nancybyrneiannucci.com  Instagram: @nancybyrneiannucci