Thank you, Rob. I admit, I'm proud of that.
But back to poetry -- I cannot resist adding: $300 is, as we all know, more than most poets will ever be paid for a poem these days. But frankly? Even that comparatively princely sum is a pittance when one considers the work and skill level that go into writing a good poem
I generally spend many hours, perhaps days, working on a poem. As a lawyer, I can get paid $300 in well under an hour for dictating a dull routine letter a couple of paragraphs long or listening in on some tiresome conference call. Surely, whatever your field, there are far more efficient (and more certain) paths to earning $300 -- much less the $10-$25 I've heard mentioned as a more common level of payment.
If I'm looking at financial returns, writing poetry makes no sense at all -- I will never retire on the proceeds of poetry. Perhaps, if I get very lucky indeed, I'd be able to eventually take all of my fellow poetry forumites out to dinner at Applebees, assuming none of you drink and we get one dessert and twenty forks.
Poetry, these days especially, is something one does for love rather than money. Yes, it would be great fun to get a check now and then. But as for me, I don't think a check for $300 would make me feel nearly as good as a word or two of praise from someone whose work I admire.
Me, I put every poem out there just hoping someone will enjoy it or relate to it or see the craft I put in, and care enough to tell me so. But even without that, I'd be writing it, because that is what I do. If I thought getting paid for it was important, I'd have chucked it long ago.
Eta:
The fact that someone is willing to pay for your poem is wonderful. It proves that someone out there liked it enough to pay for it. Bravo! But that's all it says. The fact that no one paid you for your poem does not necessarily say much of anything about its quality. A poem that someone paid $300 is not necessarily better than one that did not earn such a sum. (Especially since many fine poets are not submitting their works to such publications.) It's one yardstick you can use for value, I suppose, but in my opinion, it's not a very good one, especially for poetry.