To all members of Hellopoetry
(Not just my followers and friends)
Well that's another year behind us,
Another year of both good and bad
Another year of both happy and sad
A year in which I've seen friendships blossom
A year in which I've seen verbal abuse
But also love in equal measure
Verbal abuse! Yes and I've dealt out my share
Also a year in which I chose to set my challenges
Which in their turn gave us six dailies
You wrote the poems and so the credits go to you
This has been a year when I have seen young writers blossom
A year when grumpy old men like me are coming to the end
And so what does the future hold for this great site
In the coming year?
A new year when we can encompass the world
Arms linked with poetry both good and perhaps not so good
A new year when humility and not over inflated egos
Are paramount
Unfortunately I don't believe that will ever happen
You know when I used to teach several years ago
I never had failures in my classes
I had students who weren't quite as good as some others
They weren't derided because of it but were encouraged
To try in another way
Criticism yes but constructive criticism
And that in an ideal world is how this site should be
The strong helping and encouraging the less strong
Can we all work towards that goal
The majority here already do so

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and my heartfelt wishes for the coming new year


Joe

"You can't really love someone you've never met."


          He's the first thing on my mind
   when I open my eyes,
             the last thing I think about
    before I go to sleep,
           he's in my thoughts all
    the moments in between,
his face takes away the nightmares
             and fills all my dreams.
       *How is this not love?

Ugly
Unwanted
Heartbroken
Emotionally Abused
Betrayed
Unloved
Disgusting
Unworthy
Lonely
Depressed
Fat
­Helpless
Pained
Stupid
Crazy
Insane
Jealous
Withdrawn
Old
Confuse­d
So **** Hurt
Hopeless
Utterly Miserable

I feel the already torn pieces of my heart
Shredding inside my chest, falling apart
Floating slowly down to the floor
It's deja vu, I've seen this happen before
Each time there's less and less pieces
To struggle putting back together
But I got some super glue somewhere
The puzzle of love, literally in my hands
Almost nothing left for when I get my "forever"
And I'll truly never understand
How this keeps happening to me
Time after time
Don't worry though
I'm sure the glue will work *just fine

Headaches.
Wounds that left a scars.
Flowing tears dried my body.
Unable to walk nor talk.
Hopeless.
Such a pathetic.
Nameless.
Almost breathless.
But still alive.
In between life and death.