F.I. and Joel Goldhaber, poet and authors of science fiction and fantasy

October 30, 2025

"Morning at the Feeders" and "Mid Night"

Four Tulips published two of my poems -- "Morning at the Feeders" and "Mid Night" (a Rictameter) on October 16.

Both represent the necessity of persistence as a path toward publishing. "Morning at the Feeders" was rejected more than 50 times before finding a home. It began as a 10-line poem (in March of 2024) and grew. It was 14 lines in May 2025 when I submitted it to Four Tulips, a publisher of poetry and prose "living in the moment where visual art comes alive through the written word. By the time they accepted it in October, I had tinkered with the poem (I don't consider any poem to be in its final form until it's published) to include bird and mammal activity observed over the summer and it had ballooned to 27 lines. Fortunately, Brittany Garrett, the Managing Editor, liked the final version and published it.

Likewise, "Mid Night" was rejected more than 50 times. But, it started as a Rictameter and, although I toyed with making it a Nonet or Blank Verse, ultimately the version I like best, the original Rictameter first submitted in March of 2021, was the one accepted.

So, if you're also a poet (or a writer in any other form) remember never take rejection personally. Finding the right home for a piece may take time and multiple rejections, It's just a matter of time, persistence, and sometimes a new publication. Four Tulips didn't even exist when "Morning at the Feeders" and "Mid Night" were first written, Brittany Garrett founded Four Tulips in early 2025 with a mission to "publish poetry and prose in an accessible format" and "a focus on vivid language and concrete imagery".

"Counting Spoons" (a Rictameter)

Magnets and Ladders included my Rictameter, "Counting Spoons" in the "Challenges and Triumphs" section of the Fall/Winter 2025-2026 edition.

Since we're on the topic of rejections, "Counting Spoons" was first sent out in March of 2024. I added the Epigraph in August, because I realized too many people do not understand (or have even heard of) spoon theory. In all it received a total of 36 rejections, including one the same morning Mary-Jo Lord, Coordinating Editor, informed me Magnets and Ladders intended to include "Counting Spoons" in the Fall/Winter 2025-2026 edition.

Magnets and Ladders: Active Voices of Writers with Disabilities, provides "a place where novice and experienced writers with disabilities can showcase their work".