| Author | Message | ||
| rus bowden
New member Username: rusbowden Post Number: 92 Registered: 12-2003 |
Hello Poetry Fans, Poetry & Poets in Rags This past Sunday, hopefully I became about the last one to know that I made a typo introducing our newest poetry forum to our InterBoard Poetry Community. Here's the link, with their name correctly spelled: Lit with Kick!. My humble apologies. We have one of my favorite ever P&P in Rags, because of how the articles dig in with love and power of language and poetry. We have two items on poets in prisons, one in Burma, one in China, who we have covered before. Our headliner is by a columnist who has headlined for us before, David Biespiel. He is an excellent poet who writes a column that appears in The Oregonian the first Sunday of each month. As far as I know, I have never cut a Biespiel article. This must make him our #1 go-to guy in the world for news on poetry and poets. I thank him here publicly for what he does and keeps doing for us poetry lovers. He always gives us a whole poem, and a wonderful essay to go along with it. I believe you will love having read his article this week. And then keep reading. They are fabulous, including and maybe especially our long and very informative, important, back page item. Yours, Rus Our Links: Poetry & Poets in Rags IBPC Home IBPC Newswire | ||
| rus bowden
New member Username: rusbowden Post Number: 93 Registered: 12-2003 |
Hi All, It's been a difficult week for Poetry & Poets in Rags at a couple forums, and, to be clear, this message goes out to all the IBPC and other forums I post in, with none named. For my integrity and self-respect, I feel compelled to communicate this. Let me first say that it does not apply to most of the readers or poets in the forums, but evidently enough. I am going to request that the threads I begin or am in are not flamed. I am also going to request that the moderators of the forums in no way speak down to me. I would rather talk about the content and points of views in the articles, than about piddly stuff. Also, to the adminstrators, never shut down one of my threads without communicating to me whether it's something I want to do. I appreciate that you would do this for me in the instance of a flame, but I may have something to add. In one case this week I did, and in another I didn't. I'm from Lowell and I will hit the road in a Jack Kerouac minute. I want to serve, but I am willing to leave. I understand where you might be coming from, but for my own self respect, I need to be involved in such a decision. I appreciate that many came to my aide, or to assist with the situations this week, and the moderators and administrators have been responsive, but for the time and disrespect I've had to go through, I want quicker understanding and responsiveness, some basic assumptions already in place. We are not critiquing a poem. My announcements are not only not open for bashing, but nothing even close or down the bashing road even one step. It's different, and there are some who need to know why. Here's how I'll put it. I am a parent, a single parent, and will now talk to the childish ones, and the ones who choose to speak to me as if they are parents, a little page out of the transactional analysis of the sixtees. I'm the Mom, not you. I serve out three square meals a day, and I do with the work I put into the column each day and each night, hours upon hours each week, and for the most part serving it up to appreciative, hungry, hard-working and hard-playing eaters. I make sure there are vitamins, all the food groups are represented, and that the food comes from reputable producers. Then I make it as tasty as possible, so you guys will want seconds. If you want to tell me that you favor one course over the other, I will listen and be as responsive as I can. But complaining I put the wrong fork out on the wrong side of the plate, or complaining about which room I serve in, or worrying about whether I say grace or not, is out of the question. It's my kitchen. Stop worrying about it and eat, be more like your good brothers and sisters, who take and enjoy, even spill a little. When you serve the meals up, you get to choose. In the mean time, I'm the chef here, and you can eat or go to bed without. And I've come a baby's breath away this week and again tonight from pulling the plate. You kick me out, and it saves me work. Poetry & Poets in Rags takes expertise to do. I have it. You may too, but I'm the Mom. Poetry & Poets in Rags keeps me from writing my own poetry, so you can do well with yours, and I'm good at it too and love to write. My choice, but I'm the Mom. I work 50+ hours a week to afford the lights, the room, and this computer, and then do Poetry & Poets in Rags for you. Do you think I ask for one word of thanks? No, but I don't expect to get mistreated either. I'm the Mom, and I will not tolerate being disrespected. Would you if you were me? Thanks for your good consideration. Yours, Rus |
