This was rejected because it wasn't a "Romantic" love poem...The category is just list

Quote by ChuckEPoo


Ok I'm confused. I know both sites and post both sites. Reggie, you're the one authority I'd ask about the poetry. Are you saying a love poem here must have sex? Isn't that the erotic poem category? Maybe I'm cutting my own throat here but I have several love poems posted without sexual references. Some with RR.


Ok I'm ready for that drink now. Make it a double. Fuck, just give me the bottle

Quote by avrgblkgrl


*Eases the knife away from your throat.*

No, I didn't say that at all Chuck, no one has. I simply said that I did not see anything sexual in the poem, so there was no use in bringing up or discussing that. It was in direct response to Steph's quote (he mentioned sexuality along with other things he felt was represented and explored--I could have worded it better). The poem was obviously not submitted as an Erotic Poem. Your poetry is safe.

Quote by Magical_felix


I did not know... How would I? I love my drugs as well so I can understand what you are feeling. Do these offend too? So I know not to use them in the future.

Quote by stephanie


Nah... They're all fine...

xxSF

(Sorry about being SNAPPY... When I've been reading comments by VARIOUS people on VARIOUS subjects I sometimes go, "OH FUCK THIS!" and let rip... USUALLY at the most benign commentator!!! (For Shame!!!) Yet ANOTHER reason I'm NOT SUITED to The Moderating Game!

Apologies, Jack. x

Quote by JayDee
I imagine that having studiously kept a low profile on the site and not being a story moderator on Lush are facts likely to add a deep discount to my opinion but I feel moved to tender it anyway: it seems to me that when it becomes possible to do an end run around the decision of the moderators by posting your work in the forums it won't be very long until Lush is mostly Forum and far fewer published pieces. A tragedy of epic proportions.

Quote by loneleygirl68
This poem is the second part of one that was published to the site on 7/17/15 called Enigmatic Shadow

enjoy, and comment if you would like. Personally I think it should have been allowed to be published....


Enigma Resolved


Not quite content
To wait anymore
I gathered my things
Followed you out the door

Down the road you went
Strolled at a leisurely pace
If noticed following
I’d have had a red face!

Around the corner
Just up ahead you stopped
If I’d noticed a minute later
I would have been caught

Following just a bit slower
My heart still beating quick
I wonder where you are going
Will knowing do the trick?

Waiting for you to tell me
Where this ‘friendship’ will go
Is driving me absolutely crazy
I really must needs know

Up ahead you finally stop
At a house in the middle of a row
You fumble a bit with a key
Then in the door you go

The windowpanes are shuttered
The curtains are all drawn
I am out of luck to see in
A fence around the neat lawn

Huffing out an exasperated sigh
I sit down upon the curb
I followed you for nothing
Because I don’t dare disturb

I failed to notice
The door opening again
Suddenly there is a shadow
Damn! Its caught I’ve been!


What are you doing here?
Did you actually follow me?
All that I could do
Was nod my head yes in honesty


I asked you to be patient
For just a little while more
Why did you have to follow me
To my mother’s door


I really wish you hadn’t
Gone and followed me here
Lovers or Friends
The answer is now clear


If had you been patient
Its lovers it would have been
But without the most basic trust
I can’t even consider you a friend


Please take your leave now
Don’t contact me anymore
Lose my telephone number
Do not darken my mother’s door


I stood up, looked you in the eye
Desperately trying to apologize
You shook your head and turned away
I had actually ruined things I realized


With no chance I turned and left
Returning from whence I came
Neither lover nor friend now
I’ve only myself to blame



In trying to solve the mystery
That was the enigmatic shadow man
I missed a chance at true love
Now, always alone I am doing the best I can

Quote by loneleygirl68
This poem is the second part of one that was published to the site on 7/17/15 called Enigmatic Shadow

enjoy, and comment if you would like. Personally I think it should have been allowed to be published....


Enigma Resolved


Not quite content
To wait anymore
I gathered my things
Followed you out the door

Down the road you went
Strolled at a leisurely pace
If noticed following
I’d have had a red face!

Around the corner
Just up ahead you stopped
If I’d noticed a minute later
I would have been caught

Following just a bit slower
My heart still beating quick
I wonder where you are going
Will knowing do the trick?

Waiting for you to tell me
Where this ‘friendship’ will go
Is driving me absolutely crazy
I really must needs know

Up ahead you finally stop
At a house in the middle of a row
You fumble a bit with a key
Then in the door you go

The windowpanes are shuttered
The curtains are all drawn
I am out of luck to see in
A fence around the neat lawn

Huffing out an exasperated sigh
I sit down upon the curb
I followed you for nothing
Because I don’t dare disturb

I failed to notice
The door opening again
Suddenly there is a shadow
Damn! Its caught I’ve been!


What are you doing here?
Did you actually follow me?
All that I could do
Was nod my head yes in honesty


I asked you to be patient
For just a little while more
Why did you have to follow me
To my mother’s door


I really wish you hadn’t
Gone and followed me here
Lovers or Friends
The answer is now clear


If had you been patient
Its lovers it would have been
But without the most basic trust
I can’t even consider you a friend


Please take your leave now
Don’t contact me anymore
Lose my telephone number
Do not darken my mother’s door


I stood up, looked you in the eye
Desperately trying to apologize
You shook your head and turned away
I had actually ruined things I realized


With no chance I turned and left
Returning from whence I came
Neither lover nor friend now
I’ve only myself to blame



In trying to solve the mystery
That was the enigmatic shadow man
I missed a chance at true love
Now, always alone I am doing the best I can

Well done for being brave enough to submit your work, and subsequently posting it here. It always takes guts.

I read your piece, but I haven't read all the replies, so sorry if this reply is superfluous.

If I was a moderator, I'm afraid I would also have sent back your poem.

To me, a follow-on piece should also have an ounce of stand=alone backbone. This particular piece, for me, is a short story of what was physically happening, with the odd dash of wondering and waiting, a smidgen of wishing, and a turn-about of what appears to be some sort of giving up at the end.



As a reader expecting a romantic poem, I would be looking for the depths of what was happening in your heart and spirit. I want to read words of impact and feeling, and have them affect me tangibly. I want them to make my mind run away and find your experience in my own being.

The first "feeling" I read in your piece (other than the initial slight irritation of the first line) is that you'd have a red face if he'd noticed you. As a reader of romantic poetry, that's not enough. I want to feel the burn on your skin, the heat of your embarassment blazing into the air between you. I want to be scorched by the desire bouncing off his gaze and back to your shameful position.

If he had caught you, what would have happened? Your heart is beating quick, but why? Are you just physically out of breath, or is your passion rising from the deep, calling to be sated and held in his arms? Make me feel what you feel. I want to know! Where is the passion to follow this man, and why? Crawl into my head and ignite the same curiousity you have, and the effect it has on you within the piece.



I loved this part:

The windowpanes are shuttered
The curtains are all drawn
I am out of luck to see in
A fence around the neat lawn

I see a double meaning in this, and that inspires my imagination to think deeper about what it is you might actually be saying. Is it both metaphor and reality? Or just more observation? Is it literal description, or the fight to be ushered in where you may not tread alone? Does it matter? Could it matter? Where might it take you? This is an element of what I would be looking for as a moderator.



Sadly, I am confused about the second half of your piece (from the tenth stanza). Is the man talking to you? Are you using dialogue here, so he's talking and you're replying?

I am vociferously pro-punctuation. I find the lack of it any poetic work (not just yours) infuriating from a personal point of view, and particularly from a reader's point of view, very confusing. If I have to fight to understand who is saying what, or when, or when to breathe mid-sentence, or where the focus of the words and flow should be, then something is not working. I find very few poets can use this style and still sweep me away with them.

In your piece, it caused me exasperation in the beginning (again, this is my personal preference on style), and latterly, extreme confusion because I'm not sure what is going on. If you might consider trying some punctuation to clarify what's happening, I would find that helpful as a reader. That is your personal choice, of course. If I were a moderator, I would have suggested it. I want you to make me run, or skip, or stand still, or rage, or slump in sorrow by the pace of your words, and punctuation is a great tool for enabling that to happen.



The last stanza of your poem talks about the mystery and enigma of the man. For me, the mystery and enigma is that I don't know what the mystery and enigma is. Is he an enigmatic shadowman because he is beyond your reach? Because you could not catch him? How did you miss your chance? Because you couldn't catch him? Because he didn't fancy you back? Because... why? Did I have to read the first poem to find that out? The follow-on piece should do that without the need for the first, in my opinion. Yes, it is a development of the first, but it needs to have a thread of recognition in it. For me, not knowing what the enigma could possibly be makes this poem like a jigsaw without the middle pieces.

How did you miss your chance at true love? How does that make you feel? Are you annoyed but accepting? Are you left with inner turmoil and and a rip in the fabric of your heart? Where do you sit now? Is he a dream that you will follow in the night? Or does he slide from your today and dance on your regrets like sunshine through leaves? I want to feel the romance of your following obession. I want to be swayed by your emotions on the page, not just the story of the going, talking and rejection.

For me, whilst you have obviously worked hard, this piece doesn't fit in the "love poem" category, because I cannot touch and taste the emotions, or smell the salt tears in the flow.




I hope I haven't offended you. As I said, this is my opinion. I would, however, encourage you to read what others have written in reply to you. We all need to find our own style, but we can only do that by finding what does and doesn't work for us. That's a horribly long process, but it can be worth it if we want to be better writers. Some advice is good, some is not, but we don't know until we try. Good luck, and persevere!

Quote by Magical_felix


No worries dude.

Quote by JayDee
I imagine that having studiously kept a low profile on the site and not being a story moderator on Lush are facts likely to add a deep discount to my opinion but I feel moved to tender it anyway: it seems to me that when it becomes possible to do an end run around the decision of the moderators by posting your work in the forums it won't be very long until Lush is mostly Forum and far fewer published pieces. A tragedy of epic proportions.

Quote by stephanie
This story has a GRAIN of truth:

When I used to Mod, this VERY often happened. You'd hit the Queue and be faced with the following.

"I really love my border collie. She's the cutest dog. IN fact a bizarre thing happened when...."
(My Reply) Hey there! I can see this is your first submission. Please read carefully our guidelines as we don't allow stories of this kind. It's well written but we don't permit this particular kind of dog-loving on site. Best of luck with more suitable offerings in future.. XX Steph, Lush Moderator.

HI! I'M SHELLEY AND I HAVE BLONDE HAIR AND BIG TITS!
(My Reply) Hello. We don't write in Underline, Italicized, All-Caps here. Please read our submissions guide carefully. SF Lush Mod.

"I'm only fourteen but I have a huge cock and..."
(My Repl) This isn't acceptable. Read our guidelines. SF

"L8r you can show me yr tits I said to Denise we had phone sex because she ws at collage in El A and omg I was stuckathome in denver colorado whree i..."
(My reply) Read our guidelines. SF

"''Thats great, just there,' I panted as Donald rubbed my pussy.'"
(My Reply) It's "THAT'S"!!! With a FUCKING APOSTROPHE!!! Do they HAVE schools where you live? Stop wasting my FUCKING time and read a book on BASIC FUCKING GRAMMAR before you DARE to submit anything else to MY FUCKING SITE!!! Jesus, you people make my fucking hair fall out! Idiot. s


xx SF

(You can see why I didn't last...)

Quote by Echelon


not at all, opinions are always welcome. i suggested to christina that she post her work here. just because it didn't suit a particular category, and therefore the front page, doesn't mean necessarily that she shouldn't get to share. we have forum mods who keep an eye on things that get posted in the forums and they can remove any unsuitable content.

and i wouldn't worry about the number of submissions. they have risen a lot in the past couple of years that i have been a moderator anyway. i'm sure we'll be fine ;)

Edit: plus, it's called poet's corner. people are actively encouraged to share their poetry here.

Quote by chris_brown


heres an opinion that isnt easily rejected,u cant tell me,and im sure a handful of other Lushies out there who possibly feel the same way,that ego among the moderators looking over the stories dont let that creep into thier decision-making when it comes to accepting poems/stories,on something that has no clear definition among the other categories,if thats the case,then somebody needs to put thier foot down and put a stop to it.

Quote by stephanie


This story has a GRAIN of truth:

When I used to Mod, this VERY often happened. You'd hit the Queue and be faced with the following.

"I really love my border collie. She's the cutest dog. IN fact a bizarre thing happened when...."
(My Reply) Hey there! I can see this is your first submission. Please read carefully our guidelines as we don't allow stories of this kind. It's well written but we don't permit this particular kind of dog-loving on site. Best of luck with more suitable offerings in future.. XX Steph, Lush Moderator.

HI! I'M SHELLEY AND I HAVE BLONDE HAIR AND BIG TITS!
(My Reply) Hello. We don't write in Underline, Italicized, All-Caps here. Please read our submissions guide carefully. SF Lush Mod.

"I'm only fourteen but I have a huge cock and..."
(My Repl) This isn't acceptable. Read our guidelines. SF

"L8r you can show me yr tits I said to Denise we had phone sex because she ws at collage in El A and omg I was stuckathome in denver colorado whree i..."
(My reply) Read our guidelines. SF

"''Thats great, just there,' I panted as Donald rubbed my pussy.'"
(My Reply) It's "THAT'S"!!! With a FUCKING APOSTROPHE!!! Do they HAVE schools where you live? Stop wasting my FUCKING time and read a book on BASIC FUCKING GRAMMAR before you DARE to submit anything else to MY FUCKING SITE!!! Jesus, you people make my fucking hair fall out! Idiot. s


xx SF

(You can see why I didn't last...)

Quote by chris_brown


heres an opinion that isnt easily rejected,u cant tell me,and im sure a handful of other Lushies out there who possibly feel the same way,that ego among the moderators looking over the stories dont let that creep into thier decision-making when it comes to accepting poems/stories,on something that has no clear definition among the other categories,if thats the case,then somebody needs to put thier foot down and put a stop to it.

Here's a shock for you: some of the moderators are human. But even the human ones are able to put aside their egos (even those who have more substantial kinds than others) and make a site moderator team decision.

If more writers put their passion, desires, motivation, energy, vehemence, hurt, tears, attitude and arsey-ness into their writing, they'd find much less of their work rejected (I am not referring to the original poster of this thread here).

The story moderators have a job to do. Where their egos stop them seeing something clearly, they discuss it with their team (they used to, so I presume that still happens). If you don't like their call, perhaps politely asking for some pointers might get you somewhere.

Enough of us members put our feet down in tantrums that it means the moderators don't need to. Don't like a call? Surprise them, and produce something that transcends their expections by working hard, researching, and, dare I say it, listening to help and advice that is freely offered not only on the forum pages, but through individuals. They are around if you bother to look...

I know hardly any of the team now, but some things remain constant on Lush, and it's not only moderators who might be guilty of letting ego cloud an issue now and again.

Quote by chris_brown


heres an opinion that isnt easily rejected,u cant tell me,and im sure a handful of other Lushies out there who possibly feel the same way,that ego among the moderators looking over the stories dont let that creep into thier decision-making when it comes to accepting poems/stories,on something that has no clear definition among the other categories,if thats the case,then somebody needs to put thier foot down and put a stop to it.

Quote by Magical_felix


This was hilarious haha.

On a serious note though. Did you tell Shelly that pics of her big tits would expedite the approval process? You know, for fact checking purposes.

Quote by sprite


I tend to fast track stories when they're accompanied by tit or dick pix.

Quote by Shylass



The story moderators have a job to do. Where their egos stop them seeing something clearly, they discuss it with their team (they used to, so I presume that still happens).

Quote by Magical_felix

Someone needs to put their foot down about your abuse of power.

Quote by sprite


Last person who did that was Steph. See where it got him?

Quote by Echelon


not at all, opinions are always welcome. i suggested to christina that she post her work here. just because it didn't suit a particular category, and therefore the front page, doesn't mean necessarily that she shouldn't get to share. we have forum mods who keep an eye on things that get posted in the forums and they can remove any unsuitable content.

and i wouldn't worry about the number of submissions. they have risen a lot in the past couple of years that i have been a moderator anyway. i'm sure we'll be fine ;)

Edit: plus, it's called poet's corner. people are actively encouraged to share their poetry here.

Quote by chris_brown


heres an opinion that isnt easily rejected,u cant tell me,and im sure a handful of other Lushies out there who possibly feel the same way,that ego among the moderators looking over the stories dont let that creep into thier decision-making when it comes to accepting poems/stories,on something that has no clear definition among the other categories,if thats the case,then somebody needs to put thier foot down and put a stop to it.

Quote by sprite


Last person who did that was Steph. See where it got him?

Quote by stephanie


"I knew it was you, Fredo..."


xx SF

Quote by Magical_felix
I asked another mod about this and she told me that I don't have to send a dick pic every single time. Someone needs to put their foot down about your abuse of power.