FreeWrights Peer Review™

I founded FreeWrights as a safe haven against autocratic poetry boards that ban and ruin
the souls of tender poets.

Long ago I got this place started, and was, for a short time, an ADMIN.

Then I got ill-er with this "SLE" thing, and life required that I cut out completely.

I did not want, even then, during its nascent age, to even be a "moderator" at this place.
I wanted to be just a member, m'am.

I am not interested in power-of-ban, or admonisment over people...although there is one exception
to be dealt with....

So, I left that not-easy of moderation and administration work in the responsible,
gentle hands of wise bluejay, banditfemme, trochee and a few others.
And, some other volunteer moderators, of good character, have since come aboard.

FreeWrights is fine and healthy without me.

Now I'm back. Maybe just to say hello; I have not the stomach to do nasty crit work;
for I am a terrible poetry critter; just ask our Mr. Christopher George, member now of "my" former place,
this "FreeWrights Peer Review", ask him: C.T.G, who BANNED ME from =his private fiefdom=, without even a word of "oh my, that hurt, reid",

merely for my having shredded to pieces, one, just one, of his very poorest, proudly presented, pomes.

I was booted for that crit. And now, he is welcomed here to live long and prosper at the House that Reid built
BECAUSE, in most particular, one C.T.G booted me from his vanity site, named, I think, "the writers' block".

I forget names, but not events.

I would not ban Mr. George. But I surely will be on his tail, broiling his every poem-crime-commission.

Meekness is its own reward. This is not a vanity site; not The Broiler area, for sure about that.

Here am I in allegory.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6exm2Hi28Xw[/youtube]
I play "Dorothy"...and Christopher Gorgeous...is "Glenda".

..............................
We do not stand on decorum, not much, not here. "We", meaning the royal "me";
lately I do get a kick from third person speech. We are amused, after all.


CTG, meet RRW, again.

We have an impasse here.

I am a self-deprecating and self-secure poet of no small stature.
I refuse to submit a poem for paper publication.
I have no desire to become "famous" (as if!) while living, or ever.

I AM A COMEDIAN.

Now, contrast Mr. C.T. George: absolutely rigid, pompous and autocratic,
but not here he won't be. And no sense of humour, at all.


HERE, is a link of what COULD be, if CTG were half the talent of Mr. Allen.
I "play" Mr. Benny, in what would become the longest running fake ego-feud on old radio:

Take a listen?
http://oldradioshows.org/03/14/jack-ben ... 3-14-1937/


Here are the ageing feud-masters, nearing the end.
Allen would die less than a few years later--1956
_____________________











[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeJjqnbSVC0[/youtube]









_____________________

I hold forth as self-evident, that poetry, to be at all relevant, should give life, or, at least, wonder
to the reader. Poetry is today essentially dead. There is so much else for NORMAL people to do.

So we here wibble and wobble and fritter away our time, when there are higher and better things to do,
other than read verse to a lover; now there is Playstation, internet, cars, boats, jobs, lawns to trim:
things that matter, of real life. And, real life comes from the heart, not posturing, frowsy poetry.

So it is that I happen to keep it light, or historically interesting, such as the Booth diary poem, or you learn of Pork and Spam,
etc: things that don't SUCK LIFE from your poor self, so much in need of care. We all need care.
I don't really "hate" CTG. I do, however, resent what he did to me several years ago:
that wordless, un-warned, unwarranted ban, is all.

I forgive him now, to a degree lesser than 359F. , but, his kind never explains nor apologizes,
and so, (royal voice) we will never bring up this unpleasant past of ours again;
at least I won't.

And he won't dare to complain of this heat, because he has no leg to stand on;
not even a stumped thigh remains above battered knee;
and, oh, how I like to serve frog legs in butter sauce!

Isn't it so sad?



NOT






"Social Niceties" must be taken...figuratively, as caustic does also un-do paper fibers,
or "faper pibers" if I may be so bold as to Spoonerize with my dear friend, CTG.

====
addendum! watching the Benny program above,
I just said the secret word and have WON the hundred bucks!

Cheers,

"no loose ends" Welch

DON'T KNOW what I have done to merit all this attention, but let's take it line by line, screed by screed.

reid wrote:Now I'm back. Maybe just to say hello; I have not the stomach to do nasty crit work;
for I am a terrible poetry critter; just ask our Mr. Christopher George, member now of "my" former place,
this "FreeWrights Peer Review", ask him: C.T.G, who BANNED ME from =his private fiefdom=, without even a word of "oh my, that hurt, reid",

merely for my having shredded to pieces, one, just one, of his very poorest, proudly presented, pomes.

I was booted for that crit. And now, he is welcomed here to live long and prosper at the House that Reid built
BECAUSE, in most particular, one C.T.G booted me from his vanity site, named, I think, "the writers' block".

I forget names, but not events.

Hi, Reid:

Frankly I don't know who you are and what you might have been banned for but calling Writer's Block my "private fiefdom" is just plain silly because while I may be an editor there I do not run the place. In fact to show you I don't: I have been involved in removing hundreds of spam postings there in recent months... thankfully by now it has slackened off... but because there were parts of the board where I was unable to delete the spam I had to ask "admin" to do it. As another demonstration that Writer's Block is not my private paddling pool, I am at present locked out of the site and have had to email "admin" to give me the keys to get back in.

So WHO are you, Reid?

reid wrote:I would not ban Mr. George. But I surely will be on his tail, broiling his every poem-crime-commission.

Meekness is its own reward. This is not a vanity site; not The Broiler area, for sure about that.

Here am I in allegory.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6exm2Hi28Xw[/youtube]
I play "Dorothy"...and Christopher Gorgeous...is "Glenda".

..............................
We do not stand on decorum, not much, not here. "We", meaning the royal "me";
lately I do get a kick from third person speech. We are amused, after all.


CTG, meet RRW, again.

Reid??? RRW??? Again I am totally in the dark as to who you are. Identify yourself.

reid wrote:We have an impasse here.

We do indeed.

reid wrote:I am a self-deprecating and self-secure poet of no small stature.

Modest as well.

reid wrote:I refuse to submit a poem for paper publication.
I have no desire to become "famous" (as if!) while living, or ever.

I AM A COMEDIAN.

Now, contrast Mr. C.T. George: absolutely rigid, pompous and autocratic,
but not here he won't be. And no sense of humour, at all.

Now that is funny.

Chris

Welcome back, Reid, I do hope you're better at writing poetry than talking up a fight because this is a little on the disappointing side.

Like CTG (or the little I know of him, from his methodical and professional approach to poetry), I am terribly pompous and autocratic. I believe very strongly in the value of the "paper publication" that you so disparage.

Like you, however, I have no desire to become famous. I am not self deprecating. I also have no heart from which to deliver "real life". I don't own a Play Station. I own many, many shelf-fulls of poetry by (mostly) dead, (mostly) gay, (invariably) brilliant writers. I look forward to finding out why your way is so much more impressive to you than mine.

Just a hint of adversity is enough to return inspiration to a forum gone mostly tame.

I'm glad you're back, Reid, but please tell me you were stoned when you wrote this. You've not described the Chris I've communicated with over the last four or so years. I've criticized his, he's criticized mine; I've been treated only with respect.

Allen

allen wrote:I'm glad you're back, Reid, but please tell me you were stoned when you wrote this. You've not described the Chris I've communicated with over the last four or so years. I've criticized his, he's criticized mine; I've been treated only with respect.

Allen

Thanks for the defense, Allen. I think my reputation speaks for itself.

Chris