When Blog Tanks Near Empty…

If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s being behind the curve.

You have a cellphone and have for years? I still don’t. You been blogging so long that you finally gave it up? I’m still working the mines. You moved on to the next, great thing — podcasting — by launching your dulcet voice over the Internet? I bought a mike last year and it’s still in the box.

Which, when you do the math, leaves me with no cellphone (blessed be!), no podcast (voice still boxed), and a blog becoming root-bound in its pot (it germinated with this inaugural post on April 3, 2016, making it 3 1/2 years old — downright ancient by blogging years).

Why slug on after all this time in a world where blogs have become a tad anachronistic? It’s a question I ask myself often.

The rationale is both sound and suspect. It keeps me writing, and it keeps me reading (so I can write about what I’m reading). All good. But it also detracts from time that might be better spent on “real” writing.

Uh-oh. That old bugaboo. What’s “real” and what’s not when it comes to writing? Some say all writing is real. Others say no — it has to be creativity for the sake of art or, better yet, art you can market.

Not that marketing is the be-all. Royalties are insignificant, especially for poets. But readers? They’re significant, indeed!

That leads to another problem. What if more people are reading your blog (which, to you, is a mere incidental) than your poetry (which you care about because it mixes creativity with craft)?

As a certain Prince of Denmark once said, “That is the question!”

So when I get the occasional compliment about this blog from someone via e-mail or the comments section, saying how much they appreciate the advice or inspiration or sharing of great poetry, I always say the same thing: If you appreciate it and want to show it in real terms (ones that speak to all artists), read my work by clicking the titles of one or both of my poetry books (The Indifferent World and Lost Sherpa of Happiness).  They’re in the righthand column under the words “Available on Amazon.” Then follow through: add to cart and Amazon Prime the book’s tank!

Intimidated by price? That’s three ice coffee lattes (or whatever it is people are drinking — being behind the curve, I’m still quaffing HOT coffee… black, yet).

Such actions would make you a truly appreciative reader, both of blog and poetry. And that would be the best gift any behind-the-curve poet slash blogger could ask for.