Say Hello How Are You
When people ask me what I do these days I kind of tend to launch into a long speech about The Poetry Project and end up dominating the conversation in what I hope is an endearing but is more likely an obnoxious fashion. I can’t help it. This mad endeavor excites me in the most unimaginable ways. She is truly my baby! She drives me crazy with her great and many demands, she gives me sleepless nights, she is jealous and possessive and insists that I only have time for her, she makes me laugh and cry – and she brings me a certain kind of joy incomparable to any that I have ever known. I love her dearly.
And why am I capable of such vast and varying emotions? Because I am human! Here on the other side of your computer sits an actual person. Now while I would love for you to imagine me all dolled up and terrifying in a Gucci suit sitting behind an elaborately carved dark-wood desk while I condescendingly point manicured talons at the slaves who do my bidding- it is more likely that most of the work that gets done on The Poetry Project gets done while I’m lounging in my pjs propped up against the feather pillows on my bed and drinking a cup of coffee in the hopes that I’ll manage to not pass out before I am done. Yes – I have my moments of barking orders and and general snappish grumpiness – but it’s usually my family members and ever-so-patient boyfriend who have to deal with these less-than-desirable aspects of my personality - not you!! To you, I’m really not that scary!
And so my point is this: SAY HELLO!!
It seems that day after day I get an inbox full of faceless personality-less emails! No one is bothering to introduce themselves! I have a list the length of my body of all sorts of poems and there are no people behind them! It drives me crazy!
Yes – what you are presented with here is a site full of nice words and pretty pictures and yes they will one day become a book full of nice words and pretty pictures – but The Poetry Project is not so much about poetry and photographs as it is about people. And because it is about people I want to know who you are! So please tell me!!
I will always forget the poem before I forget the person.
So be a person and next time you submit a poem – say “hello”…
10 Responses to “Say Hello How Are You”
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I’m totally guilty of that- many blushes. I think I got so caught up in what I was sending, I forgot that a human was going to receive it. My lesson is learned!
HELLO!
How are you doing….?
Haha in your defense you have sent me some rather insane emails since. Plus I know you from Twitter so that counts for something
And then you get the rude people who don’t even give you their name.
Well… I can handle the first name only thing… But when you call yourself “Frantic Goth” I get a bit worried…. (although I suppose calling yourself that is rather revealing which is kind of the point).
Hello! I love this concept of bringing poetry and photographs together. It is so inspirational to be able to see poetry in someone elses photograph… I keep checking out the Facebook page hoping for more photosa…. and I have told lots of people about the website – I hope that it keeps growing with wonderful words and incredible pictures.
Wow thank you Kerry!! I promise to put up more pics tomorrow!!
Hi, Nadine, I’m Lou, aka the Gluefish. By night I’m a poet and a musician, and by day I pretend to be a software engineer. I am at present converting my poem “The Universe Doesn’t Want You To Anthropomorphize It” into a 3 to 5 minute video, as an exercise to put down a structure to write background music to.
Sometimes all I have to do is dream up a title and let the poem write itself. Titles I’m working on at the moment:
Cartman’s Obsession on Lisa Simpson
Devil’s 3 Martini Lunch
In The Time Of The Harmonica Virgins
Attack of the Unarmed Keyboardist
Crop Circles Of The Mind
Haha!! Hi Lou
I kind meant when submitting a poem you should say hi but it’s all good
oh shit man i`m so sorry, was so eager to submit a poem, thought it would`nt matter who i am… HI NADINE- i have many names but write under the name of
`hermien-veldhuizen-nysschen.
-am a crazy artist,writer of poems, stories, working on 2 books currently.
love the sea, seagulls, nature, music, white `tekkies` animals, books books books… hate crackers and bullshit.. is that enough for now?
I sent you `South African Portrait` on 18th May (2010) hope to hear from you sometime. will be thinking of you tonight while i sit with my cup of coffee
writing my endless poems. GOODLUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT!
WHAO!!! that was quick- did`nt expect to hear from you guys so soon. THANKS
I LOVE THIS PROJECT STRONGS!