And They Shall Follow Suit.

mark, that is a fantastic poem that looks at the people who WANT to believe in that which is not. Ah, Wales, you have said it so well. I remember reading Chariots of the Gods and decided that it was fun to encompass those ideas.

Thank you for the poetry. There is a dearth of it here on A2K. tsarstefan re charged the battery, so we can also thank him.

Unfortunately, there are those who wait for me to thumb up something so that they can thumb it down.

Hi Letty,
Thank you for your kind comments. I wrote this for a lady I work with who lost her son a while back and was seeking out (charlatans) for possible otherly contact with. I hid the relevant paragraph within the additional verse so as not to overly confront the issue (she being traumatically withdrawn). She doesn't talk of mediums and fortune-tellers any more. Who IMO - make a living out of preying on the vulnerable.
Thank you again Letty, and have a lovely day.
Mark...

Love the poem Mark.

I've been thinking a bit about this subject recently. I realise that fear is the root cause of a lot of the world's problems. Fear of being alon, powerless, poor...you know.

Brilliant, as ever, my friend.

Mike

Hi Mike,
Thank you for your kindness, my friend.
Fear is the key to everything, fear of life, death, loss, failure, pain, rebuke, etc.
It is also what makes us stronger and more understanding.
The only thing one need truly fear is oneself.
Have a brilliant everything Mike.
Mark...

You've said that before Letty, and perhaps one of the reasons is that newcomers rarely get any response, up or down. Case in point: you encouraged others to respond to your poem about the despis-ed rose, so I followed suit with one of mine. It's only been there a day or so, but after 40 views it still has no replies, up or down. My poem is so bad nobody wants to say anything? The only poets who reply to posts in this forum are out of town this week? The forum is stale and ingrown because there's an insider group that is tough to join?

I don't know, and perhaps I'll be seen as not such a nice fellow for trying to guess, but I've seen dozens of forums fail or limp along like an old soldier when people who do post don't feel welcome. Except for workshops, where I post to receive feedback, I post to share my poetry, and by doing so to participate in a sense of community like that which you and Mark and a few others seem to be enjoying. That doesn't happen overnight, of course, but your comment about a dearth of poetry, and my experience with my first poem in this forum both suggest one reason why others have stopped posting, or moved on.

And I can't resist suggesting that you start calling 'em like you see 'em, up or down, and let the attitude of those who wait take them down, not you or the forum.

--Bill

Hi Bill,
Nice knowing you, sir.
The "insider group" you mention need their little collective in order to breathe. It's just that they can't smell the rotting aroma in their own mouths. They've established their nest and woe to those outsiders that dare intrude.

Ultimately, they are as pathetic to us as are we to them.

Are you an ex-phili Bill?

Kind regards.
Mark...

Thanks mark!

Somehow you made them sound cute, sweet, sad, and beautiful to me. I'm thinking you didn't exactly mean to though?

"And they will self-fulfil it... anyway they can."

I had this image once of a kind of parallel world... everything is blue there, and everyone that's here... is there as a child... running around playing.

Hi Arjuna,
Thank you for calling by.
Always nice to hear (read) from you.

Best wishes to you.
Mark...

Mark,

If you mean the philosophy forum, yes, but it was not voluntary. One day I went upstairs to check my email and discovered I had been moved to a2k.

Reading your post makes this forum sound like a disfunctional, them-vs-us family, and that is pathetic. Thank you for replying to my reply to Letty, but I still have no reply to my poem from you, her or anybody else, insider or outsider, and that makes me an outsider. From both groups. Doesn't give me a bad taste in my mouth, but does make it drop at the corners

It also makes my feet itchy to become an ex-a2ker, but this time voluntarily. Probably don't belong here anyway, me or my poetry. Do you know if it's possible to remove posts? Thanks for any help you can offer in that area,

--Bill

Hi Bill,
None of us are too keen on the situation. I can't find your poem - Can you direct me to it, please?

Best wishes to you Bill.
Mark...

Awesome poem, Mark.

Cheers Tom.

I found your poem, Bill.
Are you still here?