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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US 
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The main site was updated this morning with a brand new section and about a score of new poems that try to make sense of this week's senseless tragedy. Normally, after an update, I would be emailing each of the contributing writers to let them know where to find their work, and imploring them to check everything closely so we can quickly correct MY inevitable blunders. Instead, I'm posting this notice here, so I can start getting ready for the next update. I hope each of you who have contributed will take a trip to the main site and make sure I didn't mess up your work too badly. If you find a problem, please email me and we'll get it fixed. http://netpoets.com/poems/america/index.htm Oh, and lest I forget - thank you! Adding a score of new poems to the main site was not a trivial task. Because each of the sections are linked, because all of the poems include a "Next" button, because every author has their own page listing their contributions, those twenty or so pages blossomed into nearly thirty hours of intense labor. To get those twenty pages to function required uploading nearly three thousand. It didn't help, too, that I've been rewriting all of our database software in preparation for our imminent move, meaning the new pages had to be "shoe horned" into the old system (leaving a lot more room for errors, by the way). I mention all of this not for sympathy, but to emphasis how incredibly important I think this is. There are so many people out there right now struggling for some semblance of understanding, searching for some measure of comfort. Your words, my friends, can help. They can make a very real difference in someone's life right now. Your words may be the kindling needed to ignite a light that, for many, has been all but extinguished by the darkness thrust into our faces this past Tuesday morning. If you've already contributed, I applaud you. If you haven't, I urge you to consider doing so. Many of you, I know, are struggling with your own demons. You feel you have nothing to say. And I understand. It's so easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of everything that needs to be said, with the sheer chaos of everything we feel. Our words are finite, and the impact right now seems all too infinite. We cannot make sense of the limitless. Nor should we try. Cast your eyes not to the center of this boundless, incompressible room, but rather into the corners. Into the crevices. When I wrote "Scared," I tried to concentrate on the people, because that's what I want to remember. Not the staggering numbers, not the devastation of landmarks, but the individual lives. I spoke of my own questions, I spoke of my hopes for unity. Even then, I suspect my canvas was too wide. Poetry is never about "big" things, but rather should be about how those big things, and the little ones, too, effect our personal lives. If you are trying to write about the tragedy and feel yourself falling short, then stop trying. Write instead about your heart. Not the Universal heart, not the American heart, but about yours. If there's one thing I've learning in three years at Passions, watching over twenty million visitors respond to thousands of poems, it's that poetry is necessarily very personal. What you have to say cannot ever be said by me, or by any other person. More importantly, somewhere out there is a person, perhaps a wife worried about her son in the military, maybe a man with too much anger, possibly a teen dating an Arab, someone who can identify exactly with what you have to say to them. Only you can reach them. Only you can console, advise, or touch. Only you, and the story you have to tell as a writer, can make a difference. I urge you to try. |
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| © Copyright 2001 Ron Carnell - All Rights Reserved | |||
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rwood Member Elite
since 2000-02-29
Posts 3793Tennessee |
Thank you Ron, for your trying and achieving and allowing me to participate in what is now the window of the world to me. I look on in pride for this site and all the work, dedication, and inspiration it offers. Thank all of you. Sincerely, Regina |
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Poet deVine
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-26
Posts 22612Hurricane Alley |
Thank you. I appreciate all you do for us....you are one heck of a human being!! From the first page: under my name: When our reality becomes too horrible to believe, even comprhension must suffer. (spellcheck thanks) [This message has been edited by Poet deVine (edited 09-15-2001).] |
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Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774Ontario, Canada |
Ron ... You've done a wonderful job pulling this page together. I submitted a few poems to the inspirational section not too long ago. If you feel you would like to add one or two at this time if appropriate ... I will leave this with you. I'll e-mail you .... *When you move into a new category such as inspiration, it reads "you hare here" [This message has been edited by Kit McCallum (edited 09-15-2001).] |
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kaile
since 2000-02-06
Posts 5146singapore |
thank you for allowing me the opportunity to do this will try to keep contributing |
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Munda Member Elite
since 1999-10-08
Posts 3544The Hague, The Netherlands |
I just read all poems and I'm left in tears. Thank you Ron. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
I will not forward a post - I'll give my space to another poet...just because...right now it is all I can do, and I would rather read others. Thank you Ron, for all that YOU do... |
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doreen peri Member Elite
since 1999-05-25
Posts 3812Virginia |
can we still add our poems? i haven't been able to do that yet...... thia is a wonderful thing you're doing, ron |
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Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
Have I mentioned that I'm proud of you? |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
quote: YES! |
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Local Rebel Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-21
Posts 5767Southern Abstentia |
pat on the back to you Ron... 20 pages in 30 hours is no small feat.... and I totally agree -- words are the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal kudos |
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