Father’s Lullaby

Dear child, the monsters under bed

are not just make believe.

They lurk in shadows overhead

and offer no reprieve.

Dear sweetling, sleep with open eye

and guard your dreams at night.

Ignore your mother’s lullaby,

keep candles burning bright.

Beware the lair that closets hide,

the racks of their disguise,

the suits and ties, the cuffs that slide

and cloak them from your eyes.

Fear not the slash of sharpened claws,

the flashing terror brief,

but stamps that mark the written clause

with laws of fierce belief.

What evil deeds those stories tell

prepare your heart to meet

the formal world where heroes fell

to wander incomplete.

• April 2025

Submission History

Date	Publication	Status
April 27, 2025	Writer’s Digest Competition	Accepted (Runner-up)
June 4, 2025	Swan Scythe Press	Rejected
June 13, 2025	New Verse Review	Rejected
June 22, 2025	Backbone Mountain Review	Pending
July 02, 2025	January House Literary Journal	Rejected
July 02, 2025	Mangrove Review	Rejected
August 12, 2025	Poet’s Choice	Pending
August 16, 2025	American Poetry Review	Pending
August 16, 2025	Missouri Review	Rejected
August 19, 2025	Sublimation	Accepted
August 26, 2025	Gavialidae	Pending
October 7th, 2025	DASH Literay Journal	Pending

Dear Grant,

Congratulations! Your entry, Father’s Lullaby, was awarded Honorable Mention in the Rhyming Poetry category of the 94th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition.

There were nearly 3,800 submissions in this year’s competition, spanning 45 countries! Your accomplishment is something to be proud of.

Your name and the title of your winning piece will be listed on WritersDigest.com, and you will receive 20% discount off purchases made at Writer’s Digest University. Prize packages will be distributed by November 10, 2025.

Again, many congratulations from all of us on the Writer’s Digest team!

—Moriah Richard, Managing editor, Writer’s Digest

Dear Grant Moore:

Thank you for submitting to Sublimation. I would love to publish Father’s Lullaby in the magazine.

I look forward to seeing future submissions from you.

—TS S. Fulk, Editor of Sublimation