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