The Losing Game: Writing Acceptance 4/?

You know what I love?

Pasta. In addition to pasta, I love theme issues. LOVE them. They often serve as prompts, causing me to write new poems if I don't have enough to round out a submission. I like theme parties. I like talking about books in terms of themes. I'm a theme guy. And my 4th acceptance comes to me from a theme issue that felt made me for me: Lyrics. You'd better believe that in high school I was the kind of snob who based most of her friend choices around compatible music tastes. Insipid love songs? Not pals. Fan of the 80s? Not pals. Really into mid 2000s pop music? NOT PALS. Could I sing? Not a lick. Play guitar? Very badly. List you every musician who contributed to the making of Pink Floyd's classic, The Wall? For sure. And I'd tell you every opportunity I got because when you're in high school and socially awkward these are the things you think will make you the right kinda friends. My taste has changed a bit now. That spotify end of the year thing listed my top 5 genres as: 1) Rock 2) Indie pop 3) Dance pop (16 year old Erin just threw something hard at a wall. She will insist we don't dance when in fact, we shut down every party.) 4) Canadian indie 5) Ska mexicano Could 16 year old Erin have known that Ariana Grande would come along and change everything for her? Rihanna? Sia? Beyonce?

Nah. But I'm glad they did. I daresay I finally arrived at that Nick Hornby truism, it's not what you like, it's what you're like. But boy did I have ammo for this theme. Lyrics? Oh boy. Have I defined myself by lyrics. I may or may not have filled the entire inside of my locker with lyrics from various artists in different handwriting styles to try to make an artistic pastiche. I may have begged my mother to let me paint my walls black so i could write lyrics in wite out all over them (she said no, and not just because she's an interior designer.) I may have dreamed about all the different lyrics my first tattoo would be. (It ended up being a black sheep, which, you know. Same same.) The fact that this theme was for a magazine I've been dying to be published in for years? Bonus. Cherry. Candles on a birthday cake. The little chopped green onions on top of a delicious mashed potato. For this issue, I wrote about the adorable little punk kid I was. It's something I really like writing about. So much so that my final paper for undergrad was about Fat Mike of NOFX and the Kantian sublime. (It wasn't a good paper.) It's nice to be able to write about it now with a bit of craft. I'm doing-cartwheels-in-the-cafe excited to see this piece in CV2.

[WRITING ACCEPTANCE 4/?] Dear Erin Kirsh, We are pleased to notify you that the editors of Contemporary Verse 2 have accepted your poem(s) “How Long Was I Out?” for publication in the Lyric issue of CV2. We would like to thank you for sending CV2 your fine work, and do hope you will send us more in the future. Thanks again. Sincerely, Poetry Editors Contemporary Verse 2

HOW DREAMY! I LOVE THE WORD "FINE" AS A COMPLIMENT SO MUCH. (I picture an old gentlemen appraising somethings with one of those jeweler's tools to his eye and saying, "yeeees, very fine indeed.") This acceptance is a, in the words of the Everly Brothers, dream dream dream. Until next time! - E.B. Kirsh