one word

one word
summing up thoughts
on twenty lines of verse
and for that i paid nineteen points
it sucks

and then
whining ensues
when i can’t be bothered
to critique their half-assed verses –
bite me

[3:30 pm]
Aside from here at OD, I also post much of my poetry over at AllPoetry.com under a variation of my real name.

AP, you see, is a poetry posting-and-critique site. I tend to critique more than I post (obviously) and I tend to try to leave some serious notes when folks are kind enough to read my work and comment on mine. I think that’s entirely fair, and it’s usually a good quid pro quo.

One way of attracting more attention is to ‘feature’ your poetry – it appears in a lovely little box on the right side of the screen, and you pay with points (earned through leaving critiques) for each click. Depending on the time of day, getting your verse to show up in the box (only the top six appear based on cost-per-click, though you can go to a link showing the top 75) can cost above 20 per click… when you realize that a critique (100 characters or more) garners you 4 or so. I tend to try to get enough points now and again to feature my latest, and sit there sighing as it bobs on and off the list like a swimmer in the ocean.

So, today, someone left me a comment. ‘Good’. That’s it. One word. And for that I paid nineteen points. As I said to Ayeka, “Wow. Exultation from the Gods themselves. I have been blessed by this reader, yea verily, something I knew not myself until they were moved by the Holy Spirit to take to their keyboard and hammer out those divinely-sent characters for me to see, forsooth.” (I’m paraphrasing, yes, since my comment was far more crude, and trying to have some fun with it.)

Ten minutes pass, and I get a complaint from the user – I had not seen fit to come critique one of theirs in return. Um, I’m sorry. You just wasted nineteen of my points with your one word. Where’s my motivation to take the time to read it and come up with something thoughtful to say about your verse?

I suppose I could comment… what’s one more person getting upset when I say something mean going to matter?

In all likelihood, I’m not going to do anything – as I said to Ayeka last night, there’s no point in my discouraging others, even if it might make me momentarily forget the lack of courtesy they showed me…