I try to buy a copy of Poetry Magazine every month. I love reading it on the train, and fitting it into my bag is easy because it’s all slim and pretty (the cover art is usually exotic and curious). This month’s edition I had a problem with the wording in one of the poems, so I wrote a letter to the editor asking if this was perhaps a grammar issue. Needless to say, a few days later I received a very short and hurried response. Apparently, per the editor, I had “a problem” with the way it was worded, and no, the poem wasn’t in need of editing. Ok - thanks for pointing out that my reading was “wrong” and what was printed nationally was in fact correct. Jeez. Note to the Editor of Poetry Magazine: If I write a letter to you in the future, I’d like a grammatical explanation describing the issue versus a letter that lays issue with my “problem.”


