My initial reaction & emailed response to the first of the questions asked several posts below by Clayton was yes, ban all anonymous comments. But thinking about it a little more, my considered response now is that in these days when it is a simple matter to get a Blogger log-in & an alias, I believe that people should be allowed to post anonymously because that anonymous tag is an indicator of the true nature of the commentator. (Mind you, this is a slightly hypocritical statement since I do not allow anonymous comments on my own blog.)
That said, my response to Clayton's second question remains the same. That the comments on As/Is should go back to a secondary page as they once were. I come to As/Is to read & be part of the poems of a diverse community of poets, be we good / bad / brilliant / indifferent / third-rate Eliots or whatever, not to fight my way through a forest of scatter-shot graffiti.
I'm there with Chris saying Fuck Off very loudly. We have been stung by mosquitoes, & reacted. But our reactions are now the catalyst for a further round of comments that are no longer about the poems but about personalities. They are insulting, & they are injurious. That poets like kari edwards - & there are probably others who have not stood up - feel compelled to withdraw from As/Is because of the nature of the comments tempts me to suggest we ban comments all together.
But I won't go as far as that. Just ask that the visibility be taken away. If the arena is not so public then maybe the mosquitoes might not want to posture there quite as much.
Yes, I left, but not because of heckling per say.. but more the tone . . . . do I want to say tone.. or more... this is not a battle worth fighting..... I battle every day, but it is for my right to exist... every day, I battle for the rights of others to exist.. so to have to battle what ever petty hecklers is not a battle I want to take on or even participate in.. especially not over poetry, they can inherit the space, the can inherit this country........there are bigger issues at play, and in getting ready to leave the country, I have to choose what I am willing to take on at this point.
Kari, I value your presence here and everywhere. The thought of your leaving this list is one of great loss for me.
I recognize the importance of applying energy where it will do the most good. The kind of negativity you actively battle is on behalf of what is best in all of us.
Here in this small sector of the world called As/Is we're faced with comparatively modest forms of negativity (in specks symptomatic of the unfortunate trend of greed and scarcity/fear). Oddly enough, these small bits seem even more exasperating when one labors daily and even hourly just to maintain.
I respect your decision, and I appreciate your efforts all around.
kari. From Day #1 of As/Is, one of my great joys has been the opportunity to be able to read your poetry on a regular basis rather than catch up with it irregularly through electronic journals. & more than that, to read it almost as soon as it was written which gave your poems the additional feeling of immediacy - almost intimacy - which a site like this provides.
I, too, respect your decision to leave these pages to concentrate on the bigger battles which in this time of escalating conservatism & bigotry are growing bigger; but let me just say that I shall miss your presence here, shall miss the opportunity to be able to post alongside you.
Thank you for every word that you have ever posted here.
kari edwards quitting as/is?
damn those hecklers!
I recognize the importance of applying energy where it will do the most good. The kind of negativity you actively battle is on behalf of what is best in all of us.
Here in this small sector of the world called As/Is we're faced with comparatively modest forms of negativity (in specks symptomatic of the unfortunate trend of greed and scarcity/fear). Oddly enough, these small bits seem even more exasperating when one labors daily and even hourly just to maintain.
I respect your decision, and I appreciate your efforts all around.
I, too, respect your decision to leave these pages to concentrate on the bigger battles which in this time of escalating conservatism & bigotry are growing bigger; but let me just say that I shall miss your presence here, shall miss the opportunity to be able to post alongside you.
Thank you for every word that you have ever posted here.
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