Pouring out the vitriol
Vitriol exhibits at a heavy price,
Slices through our softest parts,
And always emerges as stinking farts.
Comments
I will just say I love all your work, John.
3-lines and this response! Blimey! I knew I were doin summat wrong!
Seriously, though, thank you to all the contributors to WOL for all the support you've given me since 2010 and, most of all, for all the beautiful poems that I've been privileged to read.
“We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry.” — William Butler Yeats, from PER AMICA SILENTIA LUNAE.
John
These are well measured words Peter. Words well said
I appreciate that I am not well known in WOL but I will back this comment up with a proper application/CV which will give you chapter and verse as to my credentials to be part of a moderator team.
Hitherto I have enjoyed immensely contributing to WOL and reading certainly not all but a fair number of the blogs that flow through the system adorned (generally) by respectful commentary throughout their passage. I have also considered it appropriate to make a monthly donation as an expression of my enjoyment and thanks for the intelligent and friendly words of support from many, many good poets out there reading.
WOL deserves better treatment than has been inflicted on it recently by a minority. To stage on our carefully constructed and well loved platform the kind of material that has appeared over this short period (relative to its longevity) is to slap the face of every other person who gives his or her time to write, to read, to manage and thereby daily re-create the fine thing that WOL is and should be. A line must be drawn now to prevent terminal damage to this wonderful organisation. There is no way that personal grievances can be handled as they have been recently. We must all know deep down inside that this is not and cannot be the way.
Peter T
I'll second you.(po)
thoroughly embarrassing to watch this develop over the last few days. grown men. i ask you! poetry is a bridge builder between the worlds of people who may never meet but share a love for words and a need to express themselves. to have the site rendered almost unusable due to a handbags match has been a great shame. thats my only words on the 'matter'.
Thanks Lisa. A drama-free day is grand by me. All good wishes. John
If you add up each poem that was posted by both parties , its clear to see who's really at fault..
This all started over silly comment's that lead to a hudge negative war, its unfair to put all of the blame on big sal. If I am correct their was two poems directed at his site in a negative way before he responded back. Two wrongs do not make a right.
It would be so awful to put WOL on hold and punish the rest of the amazing aspiring poet's because of other people's lack of respect..
Today alone there was another poem placed on this site, its clear to see who is really at fault here.
The little boy who cried wolf rings a bell..
I hope this mess can be sorted out ASAP, this site has turned into a mini version of Facebook with so much drama.
I hope we can all restore it back to how and what it was originally designed for.
To express our poetic selfs once more with out the fear of crazy ' childish drama.. I stand by big sal 100%, he stood up to bullys in my eyes, i also
find you all super talented. Have a pleasant drama free day everyone?
Julian and Greg : I think it is good that a grip has been made on the problems you describe, for one reason the minority are suffering from a lack of transparency; now at least the situation has been revealed and drawn into focus. Obviously posting tit for tat grievances come nowhere the ethos of poetry, in fact destroys the fabric of its inspiration.. I certainly feel restrained, but are trying to ignore it. While I am posting, I feel it would be a massive loss to lose the site as it stands, and would implore those on the treadmill to show a bit of consideration. I have always valued the importance of intelligent comments and tried to do my bit.
At present I fear that the very act of moderation would be like invading a wasps nest.
My good friend David Moore tried his best to raise the bar, even being banned for a time, making a wonderful contribution by the expressing of genuine life experiences which are unpalatable to many. I am speaking on his behalf I'm sure when I make this comment.
I entirely understand what you say, but could not let it pass without my feelings being known.
With respect, Ray
I apologise to all those negatively affected by these matters. We will not allow inappropriate material or attitudes to appear on our site.
Our approach is normally straightforward: we provide this service free of charge providing people follow the code of conduct. If they don't, we give a warning and ask that those considered to have breached the code to remove offending material; if needed, a second warning and we remove offending items; if a third occasion we remove the offending items and bar the offender.
As Greg suggests, we have seen it all before and managed to keep the site going for sixteen years, with a moderator looking after things. However, we have no moderator at the moment, and clearly need one.
we rely on volunteers to do this for us, as we receive no funding. Is there anyone reading this who would be willing to be our moderator? ideally, two or three working as a team, backed up by the editorial team.
When I put out the newsletter at Christmas asking for moderators, and a meet and greet person, no one showed up. If we cannot get one we will have to suspend the blogs until we can do so - as this clearly demonstrates - which also means no Poem of the Week for a while. We need one or more willing volunteers to police the site for us, or at least respond to complaints.
Thank you, Anya, for your comments. I have only recently stumbled upon this personal feud in a small part of the blogs section on Write Out Loud. Thankfully most people seem to be ignoring it - as they undoubtedly should - and are continuing to post up their poems regardless. I must emphasis that I am not speaking in an official capacity for Write Out Loud, and my thoughts are entirely personal. We have had many spats and rows in the past, but we never relish them. It should be pointed out that Write Out Loud started out life as just a Gig Guide, and that the blogs were added later. There is only so much time any volunteer moderator can spend moderating poems and comments. LIfe's too short. To suspend the blogs entirely would penalise the great, inoffensive majority, of course, but that action might have to be considered in the long-term, for the greater health of the site. Just my thoughts, of course.
kj
Big Sal's response to this poem can hardly be descibed as 'nonsense' that I should draw the line under and forget. Too much of a coward to come up front and be public with his comment on John's blog he chose to fire venom at me (and now my family) with the personally nasty and cruel PM below. This is completely against WOL guidelines
You REALLY expect me to put up with his PM to me kj? It is far more than just a 'spat' which should be obvious to anyone. His venom and vitriol is damaging the site. He should be shown the gate.
Hey You Cocksucking Bitch, You Can't Rhyme Faggot
Friday 1st February 2019 4:02 am
Just wanted to tell you that your comment on John's poem is as fucking stupid as you. Hope you read this because you're a fucking faggot you little bitch.
Keep talking about me bitch. I hope you do. Fuck you and your whole family you little pussy.
I don't know what started this little spat, but it's now gone far too far. I think it's high time that all parties involved drew a line under it. I enjoy reading your poems, they really appeal to my daft sense of humour.
I also enjoy the sublime rhymes of Sal(don't deny that he is who this is about).
I just think it's a great shame to see you both wasting your talents on this nonsense.
Vitriol exuded
From a writer's pen
Is likely to just get them
In a lions den
Where all the lions don't
Don't see eye to eye
One persists in vitriol
(Which seems bit dumb to I)
The lion exuding vitriol
Is just too dumb to see
The other lions a'laughing
Laughing just at he
In lion-talk it's simply called
Getting on with others
Treating all with due respect
Treating all as brothers
But vitriol-exuders
Are oh so arrogant
They think they are so precious
Rid arrogance? They can't
And yes my fellow writer
Vitriol's heavy price
Just gets receivers offside
Vitriolers throw their dice
Their dice they hope will win them
The prize with such high stakes
The game they play is risky though
Their play could all be fake
Casinos wouldn't like this
As all us WOLers know
A gambler abusiing players
(Hot air, and all for show)
The bouncers (moderators?)
Would kick them out the door
And say so, so politely
Just don't come back no more ?
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John Marks
Fri 1st Feb 2019 21:37
Thank you Jon. That is kind. John