• Miss Take

    Miss Take

    The SIMPle Life
    from 3 reviews.
    Satire  Poetry

  • Batteries Concluded

    Batteries Concluded

    Haven't posted in a long time. Just saying hi...
    from 6 reviews.
    Commentary and Philosophy  Poetry

  • Let's Hear It

    Let's Hear It

    Cheaters
    from 10 reviews.
    General  Poetry


Marillion: Happy Friday, all. Wish I had a rogue poem to post, but I did want to say hello to all my friends here. Life has been busy, but I DO hope to resume writing and posting...I'm just not sure when.

Hope you're all well.

David
    Julia.: Hi! Nice to see you again. I haven't posted in a while, either, but I hope to start again as well. -
    michaelcahill: Good to see you! You've been gone so long I've learned iambic pentameter!! -
    Tatarka2: I've wondered where you were. I look forward to reading your poetry again. -
    shelley kaye: make it an early new year's resolution ;-)

    -
    Acquired Taste: David - Hi...have missed you - glad you are visiting. AT=/ -
    Bryana: David, I've been worried about you my friend. How is your father? -


Marillion: Hi folks. Long time, no see! I dashed off a quick rogue poem today, and decided to post it just to get my feet wet. Time is still at a premium, but suffice it to say that I've missed many of you and hope to be around a little more than of late. Thanks for your notes, emails, messages, poems, etc. I do appreciate it!

David
    Julia.: Hope things are going well with you. I've been insanely busy at work and doing a rather intense poetry workshop at the same time. My brain is pretty frazzled right now. -
    michaelcahill: "but suffice it to say" "It" can be eliminated to tighten up the sentence. Just making you feel at home!!! mikey -
    Marillion: Thank, Julia and Mikey. Mikey, thanks for that. See how rusty I am (while squelching the temptation to make a rusty trombone reference)? -
    rama devi: Also been busy..and just came back yesterday...and glad you did too! :) We missed you. -
    Hadria: Great to see your back - oops, that should be you're back! I was missing your metrics. Hadria -
    Gloria ....: Hope to see more of you, David. ;-) Welcome back!! -
    Marillion: Thank you, Gloria. Hope to show you more, too. ;) -


FanStory wrote to Marillion: Congratulations! Destination: Hope is the new Poem of the Month!
    The Death: Congratulations, David!!
    Very well deserved. :-) -
    Dean Kuch: No joke, David. Congrats on the win...
    photo blackandwhite-clapping-joker-dark-knight-animation1_zpscbfcdf5f.gif -
    Dawn of Tomorrow: Didn't I tell ya? Can't wait for my sonnet, :) Oh by the way, Congrats!!! -
    Marillion: Thank you very much to you all! I finally was able to log on for the first time today, so it's nice to see these kind messages. I appreciate them! David -
    rama devi: Congratulations! Much deserved! :-) -
    pipersfancy: Congratulations! Truly, a lovely work, and I'm so glad it was voted poem of the month! -
    Marillion: Anupam, Gail, Dean (love the Joker), J.L., Cumbrianlass, Dorothy, Rama, Christina, Writingfundimension, and Maureen...thank you all!!! :) David -
    Just2Write: Congrats on your POM win, David. So well deserved. -
    closetpoetjester: Congratulation Ro to the Vo...It seems you've reached Destination PrizeMoney haha
    Well done, champion effort.
    P -
    Marillion: Thank you, Rose, Crystie, AT, and CLoPo!!! I really appreciate it! DNB -
    Selina Stambi: David, that poem was a winner - congratulations! -
    paulah60: Congrats David! A sublime write, a well-deserved win ;-) -
    Pili Pubul: Congratulations my friend, well deserved. Hugs. Pili -
    Gloria ....: Oops, put it in the wrong place. Congrats, David. Super poem, super win. :D -
    Dawn Munro: Congratulation, David! Marvelous (and so well-deserved, my friend)! -
    Marillion: Thank you, Rouskin, Reaching, Paula, Pili, Gloria, Indiana, and Dawn. Very kind of you all to post your congratulations! David -
    Marillion: Thank you very much, Donya! :) -
    trimple: Congratulations my friend on a well deserved win!

    much love
    trimple:) -
    Bryana: CONGRATULATIONS!!! WELL DESERVED! -


FanStory wrote to Marillion: Congratulations! You won second place in the reviewing contest!
    Marillion: Thanks so much, Rama! What a wonderful surprise! -
    Marillion: Thank you so much, Cumbrianlass! -
    Marillion: Thank you, my Jestress! :) I'd review you anytime and come up with sixes across the board. -
    evrenios: Congratulations on the second place. I truly believe that you are one of the major talents on the site - not only in your poetry, but in reviewing as well!. Thank you for your congratulatory note - but especially for your extraordinary presence. -
    michaelcahill: Hey, they do notice sometimes. Perfect choice. Someone that improves the work that they review. So very deserved. -
    RGstar: Well done, Marillion,
    If your reviewing is anything like your poems, this is more than well deserved.
    Best wishes -
    robina1978: Many congratulations one this well deserved seco0nd place, Ine -
    mrsmajor: Much deserved...Congratulations! -
    Marillion: Thank you all. I really appreciate it. I wish I could review more, but if anyone has a metrical poem they'd like me to look at, I'm always happy to do so. I really appreciate the honor, but especially your very kind comments as to my reviewing and my poetry. Cheers! David -
    Selina Stambi: Congratulations, David. A meticulous poet makes a meticulous reviewer, methinks! :) -
    Marillion: Takes one to know one, Reaching. I love your work and your reviews, too. Thank you! -
    Dean Kuch: Congratulations, Dave. So, you are not only an excellent author, but an avid, well-received reviewer as well. Nice! -
    Marillion: Thank you very much, Dean. I'm afraid my best reviewing is limited to metrical work, but I do my best to offer helpful reviews. -
    Dorothy Farrell: Well deserved David, you have certainly been a help to me - Congratulations Dorothy -
    Marillion: Thank you, Dorothy. That means a lot. -
    Marillion: Thank you very much, Bev. Nice to meet you! -
    Julia.: Haven't been here much this week so I just saw this. Congratulations! -
    Marillion: Kenny and Gloria, many thanks, my friends! -


Marillion: My dear friend (and rogue hater) Emmex just reminded me that today is WEDnesDAY (Ideasaregems~Dawn would appreciate that), but I reminded her that, to the rogue, it's only HUMP Day. :-) See you Fry(the rogue)day, ladies...
    Gloria ....: And as Paula told me after I told her our FRYday is their Sa-TURD-ay. Isn't it neat how things always work out? -
    Acquired Taste: Ahhh, and I am off to seek more exciting items on the planet. I have to post my Fry the Rogue Friday shortly so consider it a Tip the Rogue Thursday. Have a satiating evening! AT=/ -
    Acquired Taste: Am hope the "pentameter" is not an issue - really though - isn't it the thought that counts? -
    Marillion: Well, it's really not in pentameter, but it has an accentual flow, so we'll let it go as is. Nicely done, AT. -
    Marillion: Usually it's Fatterday, considered the hens usally binge after being loved and left on Fryday, and Rogue IS very protein-and-caloric heavy. :-) -
    closetpoetjester: LMAO Well stud...I've just renamed it SPLATTERday in flavour of your ghoulies and how much of them WON'T be left shortly.
    -
    Marillion: Nicely done, P. There can be only one, after all (to coin a Highlander quote) -


Marillion: Just waiting on the snow...and you just KNOW a poem or three will come out of this storm.
    pipersfancy: WAITING on the snow? Well, if you're game, I'll send some of ours your way... -
    Marillion: No thanks, Christina. I don't even want what we're about to get. -
    Ben Colder : We have more on the way. Are you sure you don't need it? Shalom my friend. -
    Marillion: No thanks, Ben! If you moved here you'd want to change your name to Ben Warmer. ;-) -
    Selina Stambi: Snowed in today .. happy to ship it all out to anyone who asks - just holler! -
    Marillion: Thanks for the kind offer, but I think I'll stick with the rain today, my friend. :) -
    Marillion: You too, Jewell!!! Just came back the second week of January. I miss the community aspect of this place compared to some of the other sites I've been involved in. -


Marillion: I'm so pleased to see my old friends Hobopoet, Dawn of Tomorrow, Scarlet Affliction, and now Mercury Seven matriculating back to FS again. It feels like a reunion of brothers from other mothers and sisters from other misters.


Marillion: Thanks to ideasaregems~Dawn, Just2Write, and Emmex for their excellent ripostes to my poems, Unfair Warning, Tastes Like Chicken, and A Cautionary Male. I love the Muse-stoking, barb-poking fun of good natured banter, and you're all good sports. Of course, you realize I had to reply with Tart a la Carte, and this smoking gun has more ammo for the shooting, so fire away. :)

David
    pipersfancy: Who has loosed this cocky buffoon amidst "serious" writers?! Round up this rebel rogue immediately- and serve him roasted for Sunday supper!

    I have been pushed beyond my limits... and can stay silent no longer! My reply, Rogue, awaits your Bluster and Bluff. -
    Marillion: And I shall now retire to the boudoir, where I will lounge in my satin robe, awaiting my companion for the evening, whatever her name shall be, and read the multitude of love poems from my favorite poultry. ;) -


Marillion: Happy Birthday to Dawn of Tomorrow!!!


Marillion: Listening to Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell trilogy while writing. That's MY kind of bombastic inspiration (with special thanks to Jim Steinman, who wrote most of it). Avantasia's Scarecrow trilogy is on deck. What do YOU listen to when you write?
    Julia.: Usually our puppy whining at me to throw the ball for him. -
    Marillion: Ah, so you go with the interactive sounds, Julia. -
    Julia.: No, the puppy only *wants* it to be interactive. :) -
    Marillion: Which one, shelley? Meatloaf or Avantasia? Or both? -


Marillion: It's so great to run across some of my old friends on here. I imagine there are some old foes, too, but luckily the friends are more memorable. I did make the humorous discovery, though, that one of the top poets (only by ranking, however) has muted me without me reviewing a single piece of his/her poetry. I guess my promise of merit-based rating was too much to handle. Anyway, enjoying my reunion.
    Julia.: Bwahahaha! I've got you beat. Three of the top ten from last year have muted me. But you're just recently come back. We could compare notes again in a few months. :) -
    Marillion: Let's, Julia. I was pretty impressed that I didn't even get to this one before she ran screaming for the mute button like it was Def-Con 5. -
    rama devi: I think two of them have muted me too. Quite a number of people who used to be receptive to review and offer thumbs as well have muted me this year--probably because they wanted to keep the high rank status. -
    ravenblack: Preemptive mutes? That is just cowardly and bizarre. I wish the ranking system would just go away. -
    Julia.: I think there should be no mutes at all. Just my 2 cents. -
    Marillion: The ranking system is actually its own worst enemy, and I say that as someone who got caught up in it when I first came here. The vanity ratings can create a monster out of a mouse once they see their name on the rankings, and many confuse a high ranking here with a sense of great accomplishment, when in actuality it only means you spend all your time here pumping 5's and 6's out at an alarming rate, only to get them back, and also by pumping up their writing to get an incredible number of reviews. -
    Marillion: Julia, I was still here when it started, and I did use it to combat revenge ratings and also because some of the people reviewing had absolutely no knowledge of what they were rating, but now that I don't care about rankings, ratings, I'm inclined to agree with you. -
    Marillion: Wow, just got muted again. I'm the plague, I guess. -
    MissMerri: I'd like to add my two-cents on this topic. I just got my very first review from you and was so impressed! My first thought was, "Here is someone who knows what he's talking about and really wants to help. How refreshing!" Thank you so much for a kind but also instructive review. I sincerely appreciate it. -
    pipersfancy: Just read a review you've given on a poem earlier today, maybe yesterday... I thought yours was a lovely, encouraging review of a poem which has definite strengths, though could benefit greatly from some work on meter. I was absolutely astounded at the scathing response sent back... really - I read the reply with my jaw on the floor in disbelief... It seems more time was spent on the writing of the reply to your review, than on the poem itself. -
    Marillion: Miss Merri, thank you very much. I'll definitely look forward to reading more of your work, and I appreciate your kind words.
    Piper, I actually just saw that response, and I'm really disappointed by it. Very strange, and very indicative of what I see happen here when people fall prey to the vanity reviews that pump up a fragile balloon. I fear my response may burst her bubble, but I think it needs to be said. Thank you for commenting. I appreciate it, and I appreciate you both. -
    Aiona: Wow... you can "mute" people on here? How so contrary to the idea of WRITING!!!! -
    Dawn of Tomorrow: Oh I have to laugh at this. Do these people know you? This place never ceases to amaze me. David, if you ever give me a 3 I'm going to mute you!!! That's too much. The chase for stars, that's all it's been about for so many years now. It gets hard to remember sometimes when we actually use to use this site for learning. -
    Marillion: Aiona, you can mute up to six people. Jo Lynn, you're so right, but that's the world we're in, and I missed it all the same. The good thing is, older and wiser, I can take the good with the bad and treat those two imposters the same. Thanks, Rudyard, for that quote, by the way. :) -
    rama devi: Actually, there are still many dozens of members who value the real deal.

    Even though they (we) make up the minority here, it is still more than the number of members who were active on some of the more professional (and mature) sites, like the one Jo Lynn, David and I originally met on (Emerging Poets). Marillion--and Jo---I've still fond memories of that place long ago!

    The activity there dwindled because everyone was busy publishing their books!

    Fanstory still has potential, even though the majority seem to be after silly stars and unearned accolades.

    Of course, it's not black and white, either. There are plenty of members who are here for primarily (or entirely) social reasons and do not really care about improving, but who are simultaneously tolerant of both the in-depth critique group and the 'fluffers'.

    There is room for everyone here, and many have made efforts towards respectful tolerance.

    Without a doubt, the ranking and rating aspects re the real problem here. Ironically, they are also a huge draw for some. -
    Sally Carter: I am so sorry that you have returned just as my time here dwindles to nothing. I love what you say about honesty and rankings and if/when I get my ass in gear again, be sure I shall come and read your work properly and welcome honest critique of my own. -
    Marillion: Sally, please do hurry back. We'll leave the light on for you! :) -
    Showboat: Hey David, old time Showtimebook here, recently morphed into Showboat, always Gayle. Gee, it's great to see you back. Many of the original cast seem to be making their way back. So cool.

    Welcome back, 2004 Poet of the Year!

    Hugs,
    Gayle -
    Marillion: Thanks, Gayle. Sorry, I just saw this. Scarlet Affliction just rejoined, too, so this is getting more and more fun! :) -


Marillion: After a lengthy absence, and the publication of my book, The Vampire Sonnets, which were forged and edited here, I've returned to shake off the rust and revisit my writing and reviewing. Don't be afraid to say hi if you remember me. I'm not the ogre I was, or appeared to be, and I'm happy to help those who are especially interested in the traditional forms.
    rama devi: YAY! Warmest welcome back, dear David! You're one of my favorite poetic mentors. I'm deeply pleased you've returned here, and encourage all Fanstorians to welcome (and covet) feedback and critique from you ( I do!) -
    Marillion: Thank you, Rama. It appears that there is much to learn or re-learn about the machinations of the site, so I appreciate any help I can get about the intricacies of it all. Glad to see a familiar name, too, especially one I have such fondness for. :) -
    rama devi: I'm fond of you too. You'll find that MANY previous members are gone, but there numerous new ones. I'm very glad you're back--makes me glad I also returned. :) I hope you get time to review a lot and help to inspire higher standards of reviewing as well as continuing to evolve towards higher calibers of writing (as it used to be in the old days). -
    Marillion: I'll do my best to do so, though I'm afraid I may ruffle a few feathers. I'm trying to get some of the others to return, as well. This place, if used properly, can really assist people who truly want to improve. -
    IndianaIrish: Welcome back, Marillion and congratulations on your book. People still come and go here. Welcome back. Indy : ) -
    Marillion: Thanks so much, Indy. If you're like my friend in Crawfordsville, this may be a good time to hunker down and write. Are you snowed under? -
    Julia.: Welcome back! Us old timers from back in the good old days are rare. -
    Sallyo: I'm here... waving. I'm working on a blank verse acrostic novel. I don't review much (too much assessment work in the real world) but it's good to have some opinions from people who enjoy reading and who are willing to read trad forms. -
    Julia.: Hi, Sally! I'm pretty good at scansion and traditional forms. I'll fan you so that I can get notified when you post something. -
    Marillion: Thank you, Julia. Good to see you here, too! -
    Marillion: Sally, I'll take a look at your offerings as soon as I can. I seriously doubt I'll be as active as I was before. Real life has to take precedence. -
    SimplyaStudent: Well i have to say your reviews have not bothered me. Nor rama devis for that matter. It is good to receive constructive reviews, how else will one become better?
    The trick should be to know the difference between an honest, helpful review, and a review that was written by someone trying to be irritating.
    I am not entirely sure people grasp that so well.
    I rarely get "nasty" reviews because I usually chase those people away from my work. I NEVER give revenge ratings. Not productive, and unprofessional.
    But you guys keep doing what you are doing. It does not bother me. :-)SS -
    Marillion: Thank you, SS. We will. Keep writing, my friend. You have the same love for the epic poem that I do. I always loved creating stories within verse, and my book is actually a verse drama in sequential Shakespearean sonnets. -
    Dean Kuch: Early congrats on your POM win for March, my talented friend.
    photo tumblr_mndguuFf8x1qj7u8ao1_5001.gif

    Bravo! -