A few words or so about Poetbay and the project that brought online poetry to life for me...


Where the Bay is

A few words may be all that could be said about how I found myself at the Bay. It was at the beginning, when I was finding my feet on the internet, specifically for the purpose of online poetry. Jof, the founder, found me on another site and jovially invited me to sign up and be part of this new project. It was an exciting time! All the scribbled sheets and typed up pages of poems lay scattered across the spaces and pages of my life at that time and it could all possibly be brought together in 'one place.'

So I signed up (with a different account name to the one I am currently using) and began a love-hate relationship with online poetry at the beginning of the Bay. I also signed up with the Swedish mother site wherein I am still currently actively participating, three or so accounts later.

Perhaps my experience here and personal story is not the typical one. But I stuck to it and came back each time I was knocked down. I even served as a moderator once when the Bay was seeking to address member and site care by time zone. It was such a brilliant idea to share the load and take turns at moderating, to be peacefully asleep knowing the site was being cared for until your next 'shift,' so to speak.

I only wish I had more of a stable and continually developing online life and presence. But thanks to Isabelle, who was and is always kind and understanding I kept returning like a prodigal child, reinventing my online poetic persona and trying again to allow poetry to be a digital experience and integrate that with my offline life.

So it has been 15 years now. And after all those cycles of online poetic angst, the building of and demise of several friendships at the Bay, the poetry goes on. Strange how the trail has been a bumpy one for the likes of me. But some venues stay with you and there is nothing you could do but stick with it and soldier on.


Now it is looking forward to another 15 years. This is a little late in coming together. But there should still be fifteen years of writing in this heart and I am hoping to be there looking back at the 30 year mark. reminiscing and being quite frightfully old.

A few words too many now. In due time, this shall distill into a poem. Until then, keep poeting. And may the waters of the Bay refresh you. Always.




Words by arquious The PoetBay support member heart!
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Written on 2022-10-01 at 17:18

Tags Galateus  Crypticbard  Arkayye 

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shells
Interesting to read of your "journey," the Bay is tidal, ebbs and flows with creativity, personality and frequency of visitation. It is all of these things for me and I thank you for your your last line.
2022-10-04