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The Printed Word

One day in the last couple of weeks I came upon a random comment from a fellow web poet that relayed his desire to one day be 'published' which after reading on he meant in a traditional book form, printed pages bound and sold in bookstores and shelved in libraries. I responded back that legally, posting your work on the www is considered by most countries as being 'published' as if you were going the traditional route. Of course we can go into the subtleties and nuances of being and 'established author' but in the end I have come to the conclusion that although publishing on the net has not entirely found a reputation and credibility surpassing that of chap book printing even. It is interesting how people still look to convention and tradition to find validation in themselves. And if any poet that participates predominantly in web based poetic pursuits is discovered by a publisher you can bet they would not pass up the opportunity to have their own tome printed and circulated by the major publishing houses.

The Printed Word
`

there was a time
when thoughts
were pencilled in
by flashlight or nightlight
well after the house
has shut down for the night

there was a time
when poems
were extensions
of one's hopes and dreams
by words coloured in -
imagination reigned supreme

there came a time
when typing in
on keyboards and touch screens
cursors blipping and
message alarms beeping -
our faces twitting in online spaces

there'll come a time
when our souls
after having been
stripped and laid bare
shall seek its solitude once more
in the humble printed word

`

Comments

There's nothing like holding a book of poems in one's hands, to be read over and over again. I have maybe 50 or more books of poems, including chapbooks and hard covers. Most sent to me by friends over the net, or purchased when I went to readings here or read at open mikes.

Barry and I refer to two thick books especially *for entertainment* as we've developed our style and really don't need ideas though we occasionally catch an idea from poems we read. For me, my ideas are pretty much in the moment, from recent events, feelings, sounds, sights.

The books are: *The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry* and *The Pushcart Book of Poetry*, lofty aspirations, indeed.

Enjoyed your poem and your blog, thank you CB.

~A

p.s. My first big thrill in 2005 (when I first started writing poetry again) was a chap book with 3 other poets, and having 2 poems selected for a book (not a poetry book) in the UK.
Some more magazines are coming up. Still enjoy the ezine/facebook venue. All in all,
it's cool to be *immortalized*, so to speak.

Here's to poetic immortalisation!

__________________________________________________
'write on! let these words free.'

author comment

I really don't worry
Coz no Nobel is given for poetry
and
Though I’ve composed poems 3750
I am published but unprinted.

Yesterday I read some where,
Each judge wants his share,
Of a printed version,
I said I damn care
For your decision,
In any case when I’m dead and gone,
Some publisher who is not yet born,
Will make a living out of me,
I will be a mixture of lime and salt by then
In the vast sea

So I don't damn now worry

loved

The sounds of one assured of their posterity.
Here is a person that would not strive every living breath
to build for themselves a monument, carve out a niche
and etch a memorial stone so that all might now that once
there was a one that walked the face of the earth.
The rest of us will not allow ourselves to disappear into the night.

__________________________________________________
'write on! let these words free.'

author comment
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