Shout out to @jlyocum.com and @havehashad.com for publishing this entirely true account of the day of my birth www.havehashad.com/hadposts/jun...

Current* conditions near Lakewood, OH:

Lucky to have had two poems in @havehashad.com -- many thanks to @jlyocum.com for choosing them and to @neonpajamas.bsky.social, whose delightful weekly prompts inspired the first!

Ok I screwed up the first time I tried to post--but! Pretty cool to have a piece in HAD this morning. Thanks @jlyocum.com and @havehashad.com www.havehashad.com/hadposts/unl...

On the Beach by Pablo Picasso, 1937 https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137155

Sonnet 5 https://jlyocum.com/2026/07/01/sonnet-5/ "Sonnet 5" is forthcoming in the July 2026 issue of Moonday Mag. [Click https://bit.ly/474o8sW to read more 💀🕶️]

old pond young frog ripple ripple ripple --Basho (& me)

“An Interview with J. L. Yocum” in Pinhole Poetry https://jlyocum.com/2025/10/09/pinhole-interview/ Pinhole Poetry has published a series of interviews as a complement to their October issue, and I'm pleased as punk [Click https://bit.ly/46LeNHD to read more 💀🕶️]

...in case you wonder what I'm up to that's not poetry...

@pwrmnstr.bsky.social and I went to see The Haters play in February, and I bought a contact mic glued to a magnet from @cranksturgeon.bsky.social at the merch booth. Gave it to Eric at our last rehearsal and he did this. (No, we're not turning Oceanographer® into a noise project. ...yet.)

Made it through! https://jlyocum.com/2025/10/08/made-it-through/ Thanks to all seventy-seven poets and writers who submitted to my half of the HAD guest co-hosted submission call! [Click https://bit.ly/4nG5HSf to read more 💀🕶️]

OK! I've responded to all 77 poetry submissions for the night. This was a lot of fun. Now the cat is yelling at me to come to bed (he's such a little weirdo), so off to get five hours of sleep and then try to work in the morning. Good night! #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

... and if anyone wonders, I absolutely did flip a coin to decide between two submissions (I'll never tell which ones!). Thought it was appropriate to the theme. #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

...and it looks like I managed to send out all the acceptances from Aaron's email address. Please forgive me, it's my first rodeo dealing with this "Submittable" bronco. The declined messages I think are all correctly from my address. #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com 1/2

OK I have chosen eight submissions out of 78. There are a few that were really hard to decline, but that's what I signed up for. Really really strong stuff; you'll each be hearing from me shortly! #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

I'm absolutely appalled that I am deciding against otherwise-great poems because of a single word I don't like buried in the third or fourth line. I can't stop myself; I don't know what to say. Please come for me with pitchforks and torches. #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

Lots of Tarot and cats appearing in submissions, which I'm 100% a fan of. #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

I don't know if the loose cannons in charge of HAD will ever let me do this again, but if they do I'm going to specifically ask poets to send in more than one piece. I just love seeing little gangs of poems stroll in the door together. #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

I will have everyone know: Sometimes I am certain, three our four lines into a submission, that I will not be selecting it for publication. But I still read every single word. (Even the really long ones!) #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com 1/2

Took a two-hour break to eat dinner with my wife, now back to work! #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

lol

Three pieces so far have made me slap my desk, exclaim "Damn!" and take a big ol' chug of my high-ABV cider. (This is a good thing, by the way.) #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

I'm about 12% of the way through a first read of all submissions, and I'm having so much fun I'm starting to regret not lifting the cap higher than 77. #luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com

Holy cow, that party was over fast! We received 77 submissions, so submissions are closed. Now time for me to sweep the broken bottles off the bar room floor... Getting my reading glasses and my reading booze now.

OK my turn guest-hosting a submission call for @havehashad.com is a GO — submissions are open!

Psyching myself up for reading 77 submissions on behalf of @havehashad.com now... Three minutes to go!

Want me to judge your poem(s)? See the link below! (I can't promise not to be judgy, but I can promise to be polite.) Whether you submit or not, feel free to keep an eye on my profile — I will try to do some live-posting as things roll in and I have a chance to read them this evening!

The Widow's Broom, Chris Van Allsburg. #31DaysOfHalloween

Current* conditions near Mackinaw City, MI:

Prep some submission files and set your alarm clocks for Tuesday at 7pm EDT. Can't wait to read whatever you can throw at me!

Obligatory quote repost so I can tag @havehashad.com and @tanyazilinskas.com This is going to be about the most fun anyone might legally have on any given Tuesday!

On Tuesday I’ll be co-hosting a HAD submission call with Tanya Žilinskas https://jlyocum.com/2025/10/05/on-tuesday-ill-be-co-hosting-a-had-submission-call-with-tanya-zilinskas/ On August 19th, during the literary journal HAD's fifth anniversary submission call, the edito https://bit.ly/3Kz2G7S

New post: Poem published today in Pinhole Poetry https://jlyocum.com/2025/10/03/poem-published-today-in-pinhole-poetry/ In the immortal words of Cady Heron, "It's October 3rd." And that means that Pinhole Poetry published their Issue 4 [Click url# to read more 💀🕶️]

Great news! New “News” spot for news jlyocum.com/2025/10/01/n... If you’re tired of hunting around for my infinitely witty posts on Bluesky and/or Mastodon, then friend have I got great news for you! I’ve created a new spot for News on this very site, and it’s called “News.”

Are there any journals out there who are specifically looking for weird sonnets?

I'm a songwriting genius in my sleep.

Current* conditions near Grand Haven, MI:

Ben Mirov is reading tonight on Zoom!! register here if you’d like to listen in: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

On the subject of love / I have only a single observation— / if you love a grapefruit, you cut it open // and eat its flesh. Ben Mirov

Startle me in eight feet across two lines:

This webcam has captured what appears to be quite a good time.

Pierre Joris

I don’t know how you found this! This is actual footage of what goes on in my head whenever my boss is trying to talk to me.

Sparkles!

With a sad regularity I bolt awake some nights wondering if the editors who have published me have any idea that I am, in fact, just a feral screaming possum.

I think autistic folks could do with a little rebranding. For instance, we should stop saying we have “Special Interests” — rather we have “Involuntary Areas of Expertise.”

Art.