08-12-2026, 01:51 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-12-2026, 02:06 AM by Quixilated.)
Technically, Addy owns the house keys.
As I have said before, every time “the rules” are used as a scapegoat for problems that were not caused by the rules, we have already stripped the rules away layer by layer until the only rules left are “don’t be a troll, don’t try to sell something, and don’t post non-poetry in a poetry forum.” I really don’t think that’s asking too much. If we removed those remaining rules, the site would become a hellscape where anyone still trying to post poetry would have to dig through the rubble just to find a poem. If you have a problem with those three rules, the thing you are searching for might not be a poetry site.
The reason we aren’t changing the rules is because the rules are not and never have been the problem. If you can’t follow a rule that requires only the bare minimum of human decency, then I really can’t help you.
As I have said every time it is brought up, we cannot publish poems from the site without the authors’ permission. As I have said before, you could start a “poems for publishing” thread and see if any current members are willing to contribute to a pigpen poetry published book. You could also reach out to poets from the past for permission and see if any will respond. I would absolutely buy one. But we can’t just snatch random poems from the archives and publish them in a book. I’m pretty sure that would be illegal.
There are many reasons the site has declined. Fewer and fewer people read and write poetry thanks to internet distractions, shorter attention spans, and the ever-exhausting “is it ai” nightmare. We also lack the special draw of the “star poet” and/or “star moderator.” By this, I mean that we used to have some talented poets with big personalities, passionate opinions, dedicated loyalty to the site, and apparently infinite time on their hands. They drew people in and led by example. And it’s not that we don’t have members now who could be that (and were), but it’s a mantle that’s fun when it’s shared but heavy when it’s not. It is easy to burn out while waiting for others to join and help carry the load. The more active members we have, the easier it will be to generate more members. The trouble is that it’s a slow process and people give up and leave before seeing results. Everyone wants to post poems and receive comments, but very few want to take the time to give comments to others. These problems are solvable, but it requires actual real-world time, dogged dedication, a commitment to poetry, a love for the site, selflessness, community effort, and other things that are, perhaps, slightly less fun and more effort than blaming the rules. In other words, if enough members actually put in real time and work, even when it stops being fun, we could probably wake this place up. But I have already learned it would take more than two or three people to accomplish this.
Matsonosuperfan:
To your original comment, the site used to be bustling and very active, but we had several members die in a relatively short timespan, including some of our main moderators/mentors and also the site owner. It was an incredibly heavy blow. The loss caused many of our other prominent members/mods to leave or take a sabbatical. We have never fully recovered our numbers, though we do have seasons of more activity and seasons of calm.
As I have said before, every time “the rules” are used as a scapegoat for problems that were not caused by the rules, we have already stripped the rules away layer by layer until the only rules left are “don’t be a troll, don’t try to sell something, and don’t post non-poetry in a poetry forum.” I really don’t think that’s asking too much. If we removed those remaining rules, the site would become a hellscape where anyone still trying to post poetry would have to dig through the rubble just to find a poem. If you have a problem with those three rules, the thing you are searching for might not be a poetry site.
The reason we aren’t changing the rules is because the rules are not and never have been the problem. If you can’t follow a rule that requires only the bare minimum of human decency, then I really can’t help you.
As I have said every time it is brought up, we cannot publish poems from the site without the authors’ permission. As I have said before, you could start a “poems for publishing” thread and see if any current members are willing to contribute to a pigpen poetry published book. You could also reach out to poets from the past for permission and see if any will respond. I would absolutely buy one. But we can’t just snatch random poems from the archives and publish them in a book. I’m pretty sure that would be illegal.
There are many reasons the site has declined. Fewer and fewer people read and write poetry thanks to internet distractions, shorter attention spans, and the ever-exhausting “is it ai” nightmare. We also lack the special draw of the “star poet” and/or “star moderator.” By this, I mean that we used to have some talented poets with big personalities, passionate opinions, dedicated loyalty to the site, and apparently infinite time on their hands. They drew people in and led by example. And it’s not that we don’t have members now who could be that (and were), but it’s a mantle that’s fun when it’s shared but heavy when it’s not. It is easy to burn out while waiting for others to join and help carry the load. The more active members we have, the easier it will be to generate more members. The trouble is that it’s a slow process and people give up and leave before seeing results. Everyone wants to post poems and receive comments, but very few want to take the time to give comments to others. These problems are solvable, but it requires actual real-world time, dogged dedication, a commitment to poetry, a love for the site, selflessness, community effort, and other things that are, perhaps, slightly less fun and more effort than blaming the rules. In other words, if enough members actually put in real time and work, even when it stops being fun, we could probably wake this place up. But I have already learned it would take more than two or three people to accomplish this.
Matsonosuperfan:
To your original comment, the site used to be bustling and very active, but we had several members die in a relatively short timespan, including some of our main moderators/mentors and also the site owner. It was an incredibly heavy blow. The loss caused many of our other prominent members/mods to leave or take a sabbatical. We have never fully recovered our numbers, though we do have seasons of more activity and seasons of calm.
The Soufflé isn’t the soufflé; the soufflé is the recipe. --Clara