J. L. Yocum
@jlyocum.com
1.1K followers 2K following 540 posts
NYC Poet. BA in English Comp/Poetry, University of North Texas. Poems in &/or forthcoming in 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨, 𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙞𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬, $ 𝙋𝙤𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬, 𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭. More at jlyocum.com / mastodon.social/@jlyocum #blueskypoets
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jlyocum.com
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 💀🕶️]
jlyocum.com
...in case you wonder what I'm up to that's not poetry...
oceanographer.music
@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.)
Reposted by J. L. Yocum
oceanographer.music
@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.)
jlyocum.com
Who needs sleep when there's poetry to do?!

I did insert "sleep" into your sentence when I heard it in my mind.

I don't wanna brag or anything, but I am occasionally capable of extrapolating from incomplete.
jlyocum.com
And thank you for submitting! I must underscore that I was only in the judge's seat because I pulled the right number out of a hat.

Your submission was extremely good, too!
jlyocum.com
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 💀🕶️]
jlyocum.com
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
jlyocum.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
jlyocum.com
(So if you didn't make it in this submission call, you'll know I'm the big dummy it was who made the decision.)

#luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com
2/2
jlyocum.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
jlyocum.com
Ack, 8 out of 77. Typo. Late night. Forgive me.
jlyocum.com
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
jlyocum.com
What?! I have only just become acquainted with you, but it seems to me like featuring tarot cards would be a safe bet to get on your good side.
jlyocum.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

jlyocum.com
Lots of Tarot and cats appearing in submissions, which I'm 100% a fan of.

#luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com
jlyocum.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
jlyocum.com
More than halfway through now — I may get to bed at a halfway decent hour in spite of myself!

#luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com
2/2
jlyocum.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
jlyocum.com
Took a two-hour break to eat dinner with my wife, now back to work!

#luck @havehashad.com #guesteditor @tanyazilinskas.com
jlyocum.com
‘Tis the season for that kinda thing!
jlyocum.com
Ha! No worries, some of my closest friends spell it that way from time to time.

And occasionally I put on cowboy boots and spell it J. L. Yoakam … for very good reasons.
jlyocum.com
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
jlyocum.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