My poem Witch Hunt is now published in Poetic Reveries’ April 2026 Issue!

You might be wondering: Wait a second, Claris, didn’t you say earlier this year that you weren’t submiting poems to lit mags for 2026? 

Well, yes, BUT this was a poem I submitted during LAST YEAR (2025).

I had previously assumed that it wasn’t going to be published after the lack of response on that submission. Apparently, I was wrong!

I wrote “Witch Hunt” early last year during a time when I felt stressed about trying to fit in with everyone else professionally. I felt like if I  was constantly on the edge of making a fatal mistake that would completely ruin my life, or if I started putting myself out there more, everyone would think I was too “weird” or “out there” to be worth working with.

And yet, sometime after this, I think I’ve proved to myself that maybe it is worth putting myself out there more often, trying to make myself and my work more visible. I’ve realized that there are people that appreciate the work that I do, even if it doesn’t seem obvious at first.

I also still have a lot of room to grow. There’s this pervasive concern, or myth to some, that you have to get everything right by a certain age or stage in your life. I grew up with that fear the whole time when I was younger, thinking that I was running out of time to reach a certain version of success. Now I realize that everyone is working at their own pace, and I need to figure out what mine is rather than constantly thinking I have to live up to someone else’s ideals.

“Witch Hunt” can be found on page 14 of this issue! Considering that the theme of this magazine’s issue is Echoes of Myths, I think that it’s quite fitting.

You can read the issue by clicking the button below, and check out Poetic Reveries’ Instagram account here! Thanks to the team for accepting and publishing this work!