Melissa Fite Johnson
@mfitejohnson.bsky.social
poet and high school English teacher living with her husband and dogs in Kansas melissafitejohnson.com
Some people think cars are cool, but we're here to prove that's not always the case... Remember, subs are open until Wednesday, July 15th! Send us your work! forget.cool/submissions/
Along with @marchxness.bsky.social bringing us together, we also bonded over being band nerds, specifically flutists! Check out our snazzy bow ties 👀 Apparently having bangs was also a requirement. Reminder: Subs OPEN until July 15th! forget.cool/submissions/
Already my new lit mag @forgetcool.bsky.social (with @allisonwrites.bsky.social, who I met through @marchxness.bsky.social) is so much fun! We’re open (through July 15) for poetry and CNF about the pop culture that has shaped you. Submit and be part of our first issue!
Forget Cool@forgetcool.bsky.social · last mo.When we say "Forget Cool" - we mean it, because we sure did! 👀
We're over here surrounded by some GREAT submissions, but we're not doing it all alone! Meet our team:
We love this poem! Have you tried this new form? Let us know!
Melissa Fite Johnson@mfitejohnson.bsky.social · 2mo agoYou guys, I created a poetic form! @whaleroadreview.bsky.social just published my essay about the "lockbox" form and all the people who helped me build it. You can read "Estranged Lockbox" here! (Also, always an honor to be in WRR, one of my favorite journals featuring so many incredible writers ❤️)
It's #FlashbackFriday (wait, is that still a thing?) with an introduction to the Forget Cool founders! Find out more: forget.cool/masthead/
Keep an eye on this space... Submissions open in ONE WEEK! (Bonus points if you now have that song stuck in your head.) Check out the guidelines at forget.cool/submissions and share with your writer friends!
You guys, I created a poetic form! @whaleroadreview.bsky.social just published my essay about the "lockbox" form and all the people who helped me build it. You can read "Estranged Lockbox" here! (Also, always an honor to be in WRR, one of my favorite journals featuring so many incredible writers ❤️)
“Why, Building a Palace”: Building Community, Building Forms
Rita Dove’s “Daystar” is one of my favorite poems, especially for the moment of building something beautiful where there was nothing before. This is how I think about both teaching and writing. In …
whaleroadreview.com
My @marchxness.bsky.social Sadness Championship ring arrived today and I promised to take pictures! I love it so much, it fits perfectly, and I am so happy and honored to have been part of something so rad.
The winning bracket (by @legaultd.bsky.social) got the Championship game and result correct, 2 of the final 4, and 4 of the Elite 8 correct. Well done sir. You will receive a special prize (we'll be in touch)!
People have noted the high @marchxness.bsky.social vote count, and I don’t know how to explain all of it. My husband and friends are all incredibly supportive. Mostly, though, I think my biggest strategy was just being a high school English teacher for the past 20 years:
I’m really happy and overwhelmed to have won the @marchxness.bsky.social championship. So much respect to @cicilybennion.bsky.social and her incredible, vulnerable essay. I felt connected to so many you in this tournament, both through your essays and interacting with you here. I will miss this ❤️
This is such a delight ❤️
Susanna Donato@susannadonato.bsky.social · 4mo agoWhat does it take to make the Final Four? On the March Sadness 90s Edition Championship day, a giant THANK YOU to all who supported me & my essay about "You Had Time." As a last token of this tournament, I offer this glimpse into the past 4 months of my life. youtube.com/shorts/BfGN6...
Happy birthday, Celine Dion! I wrote an essay for @marchxness.bsky.social about how much "My Heart Will Go On" means to me, but you are too famous to probably ever know this, which is itself a sadness this March
Manic Pixie Soccer Mom@meganc.bsky.social · 4mo agoNot relevant but also kinda relevant to @marchxness.bsky.social I have just learned that today is Celine's birthday! Mainly posting because this is a great pic of her
AMAZING
Erin Keane@erinkeane.bsky.social · 4mo agoYou're not crying? Leonardo DiCaprio's 24-year-old girlfriend is watching "one of Leo's old movies" for the first time, sobbing over Jack's death, not realizing that 25 is the iceberg and she is the ship, and he will always be Rose on the door, and you're not crying? marchxness.com/sadnesschamp...
This song really does make me cry, and this is especially true now--what a good friend I have made through this. Thank you, @allisonwrites.bsky.social. This is so beautiful ❤️
Allison Renner@allisonwrites.bsky.social · 4mo agoI don't have the voice or confidence for this, but I CAN badly play these same notes on my clicky-clacky flute! youtu.be/OtHRGo8ppmo VOTE @mfitejohnson.bsky.social / My Heart Will Go On! marchxness.com#/sadnesscham...
THE March Sadness National Championship: (6) Ben Folds Five's "Brick" & @cicilybennion.bsky.social against (1) Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" & @mfitejohnson.bsky.social! Listen to the songs! Read the essays! Which is the saddest? YOU DECIDE (by 9am AZ time 3/31): marchxness.com#/sadnesscham...
This is such a beautiful cover and beautiful insights into @mfitejohnson.bsky.social 's sensitivity. Re-read her essay before making any judgments about just how sad "My Heart Will Go On" is. Spoiler: It's really sad, and it's a beautiful essay.
Melissa Fite Johnson@mfitejohnson.bsky.social · 4mo agoAnd then I am giving this @marchxness.bsky.social championship game all I’ve got by sharing one last (very brief) cover I did, which is so vulnerable that I kept my eyes closed the whole time:
And allow us to remind you that it's release week for Hit Repeat Until I Hate Music: the March Xness anthology. It's like this whole tournament got shrunk down into book form! Thanks to @splitlippress.com for bringing this beauty into the world: www.splitlippress.com/product-page...
And then I am giving this @marchxness.bsky.social championship game all I’ve got by sharing one last (very brief) cover I did, which is so vulnerable that I kept my eyes closed the whole time:
Why "My Heart Will Go On" is in fact the saddest 90s song
YouTube video by Melissa Fite Johnson
m.youtube.com
A few hours ahead of @marchxness.bsky.social voting, I wanted to share two last covers that hopefully will help you hear “My Heart Will Go On” the way I hear it—not cheesy, not overblown, but honest and sad. First, here’s Zack’s beautiful acoustic version at a dog’s funeral on Gilmore Girls:
Gilmore Girls Chin-Chin Memorial (My Heart Will Go On)
YouTube video by accordionaggie
m.youtube.com
Oh my god, my life is made!
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 4mo agoOk while we're getting tomorrow's Championship Game ready we just dropped some new merch in the merch store: the I Heart Sad Songs and I Cannot Lie / Final Four shirt (feat. this year's Final Four) + 2 Sadness Mugs (a camping mug and a ceramic one): marchxness.com/merch
Tomorrow's matchup was inevitable. It has always been thus and it was always going to be thus: hammering chests and slow drowning. This is the Dream of Ben and Celine.
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 4mo agoMARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION FINAL FOUR FINAL SCORE BEN FOLDS FIVE 389, Ani DiFranco 348 ! The championship is set for MONDAY. Until then, stay strong!
Today from the backlist we are flashing back to @levin.bsky.social's excellent essay on David Lee Roth's "California Girls" and camp circumventing Badness (while you're there enjoy @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social on Terry Jacks's "Seasons in the Sun": marchxness.com/round1-jacks...
3/8: (4) TERRY JACKS 278, (13) David Lee Roth 218 — March Sadness 90s Edition
marchxness.com
Ben Folds Five vs Queen Celine in the Final! Now there’s a GAME.
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 4mo agoMARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION FINAL FOUR FINAL SCORE BEN FOLDS FIVE 389, Ani DiFranco 348 ! The championship is set for MONDAY. Until then, stay strong!
@asteralesjournal.bsky.social contributor has made the finals of @marchxness.bsky.social with her essay on Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." Go vote for her in the finals, coming up soon! Check it out here before the final match goes live! marchxness.com#/finalfour-d...
March Sadness 90s Edition
A yearly March Madness-style tournament of essays about songs we love (and occasionally loathe)
marchxness.com
Such a good game to @erinkeane.bsky.social! My high school English teacher heart loves her essay so much.
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social · 4mo agoMARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION FINAL FOUR FINAL SCORE My Heart Will Go On 346, November Rain 280 End of the road for November Rain and @erinkeane.bsky.social's excellent deep run in this year's tourney. Congrats to them and to Celine and @mfitejohnson.bsky.social on the victory!
I’m curious about your approach to @marchxness.bsky.social brackets. My husband and I listened to the songs over breakfast one morning and chose according to favorite songs. Then I happily ignored my bracket when the essays came out and voted just on favorite essays. How did you all do it?