PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

I should like to think I am: I should like to think I am not a fool (although I know some might dispute this), but this is Poetry, you are writing.  Its authenticity is obvious, and no deceit enters into the designation.

To the best of my knowledge,: To the best of my knowledge, Eliot did not use drugs.  He did drink, sometimes heavily, although my impression was that he got that under control by 1927 when he entered the Church of England.  His first wife, Vivienne, became addicted to opium due to mis-diagnosis of her medical conditions.  Because so many decades have passed since my formal study of Eliot, and because there is far more known about his life now than in the seventies, I searched the net and found no specific mention, or even a speculation, that he had used opium.

Thank you.  There was always: Thank you.  There was always a lot of bullshit dealing with the poetry gatekeepers back in the small press days but there are still a lot of tyrants in the online poetry communities.  Quality can be a purely subjective matter. Also, a lot of poems that may not be good or great in a classical or technical sense were important and cathartic for the author to write and sometimes find an audience that also finds value in it.

During my undergrad years, I: During my undergrad years, I was shocked to learn that two of the 20th century's greatest Poets, T. S. Elior and Wallace Stevens, were both bullied by the editor and founder of Poetry Magazine, Harriet Monroe.  Her flat disregard for the integrity of their early work is astounding when one looks at the great accomplishments of the rest of their careers.  I began to publish my own poems before there was an internet, and I ran into a couple of editors from small magazines who were so dictatorial that getting them to publish a poem or two was more energy-consuming than writing the poem.      When I finally arrived at the internet, I found an incredible sense of liberation provided by membership on sites like postpoems.com.  I joined the Starlite Cafe immediately, before learning that it had as many rules as any print magazine.  But when I came to postpoems, I found that Jason is an excellent publisher:  he maintains the site for us, but does not interfere with what we post.      I applaud your poem's succinct and accurate summary of the print-media experience.

I have reclaimed myself as: I have reclaimed myself as the priority and now demand the return of of equal effort in building something that will last. 

Thanks Starward. Any: Thanks Starward. Any expression to do with the heavenlies bring on the Muse.

I repeat and reconfirm my: I repeat and reconfirm my initial reaction from a couple of years ago.