PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

So I have this habit of getting excited, speaking out of said excitement and leaping without thinking or looking. In the past this habit has been known to make life difficult, mostly in the areas of love, and well love :p. At present this habit is to thank for the fact that post poems not only has a top ten running again, but also an exciting new Vlog!! So when the anxiety wears off you will be the first people to know ;) I figure, seems how I am being trusted with this honour, you should all get to know a little about me. So I am a single mom, I over book myself and never leave enough time for mundane things like dishes, laundry, brushing my teeth before midnight for bed, and making coffee in the morning. (This explains my insane insomnia and the fact that at 1:45 am I am up writing a blog with freshly brushed teeth rather than soundly sleeping with slightly pasty post brushed teeth. Hopefully you can see where the crazy of taking on this blog fits and the anxiety came from). I believe in compassion and honesty, two things which rarely go hand in hand in most minds but I feel this is what makes me a good writer. I say what needs to be said when it needs to be said, sometimes adding pretty metaphors and eerie similes. I started writing when I was roughly 8 and I could not begin to tell you where my first actual poem took place but I can say that I joined post poems at the age of 16 and have been growing as a writer ever since! It is simply the best poetry site on the internet and every time I have tried to expand and join a new site I find myself comparing it to PP and running home where I belong. I feel my dear friend PoetryWings put it best when she said “I’ve honestly been on other poetry pages and they don't hold a candle to this site. There's a reason why we're close, why we write [collaborations], the comments are touching and heartfelt, the friendships are breath-taking, the support of this site is spectacular, and the talent on here is diverse and it's downright beautiful.” It’s the writers. We all make this site a safe place where we can express ourselves, show ourselves, and write what is there. I have noticed over the years that even when one gives criticism on this site, it is done so only for the sake of growth and in a kind, loving manner. That is why I am so excited to help promote both the site and the writers. So, there are a few things I want to try with this vlog and I am open to feed back on them. The first is clearly interviews with writers on the site. I am hoping to have the writer picked a month in advance so that people can email me questions they want to have answered by that writer and I can then pick a handful and ask away. Secondly, a self submitting top ten. Third is kind of like a speakers corner only for poets, there is this huge spoken word movement going on and I think it would be neat to have our poets recited or beat-box their own work and have it posted on our youtube channel. (Thinking of calling that bit Speak Out). Basically if there is a poem you would like to beat-box it would be submitted for Speak Out and one would be picked a month to be showcased. Forth is clearly a what’s new, who’s new, just general update and talk about postpoems posted once a month. Lastly, I was thinking of how people always ask poets they enjoy to comment on their work, which made me think about how often I get PMs (or have sent them) saying will you read this and comment, which lead to me thinking of the idea ‘A Poem Apart’. Thus far it looks like me picking poems I enjoy and reading them, then commenting and analysing them, giving my two cents (with the author’s permission of course), and possibly opening it up for discussion. Kind of like my recommended reads of the site. So please let me know what you think of these ideas and if you have any I might feel like taking on please share them. The email for the Vlog is mabuntu@postpoems.org Looking forward to working with you all. Much love Ash