[Jones Pat]

I've bitten my tongue, tried to be silent on this thread. And why? Because though I love reading here every day, I am not one of you because I am not a poet, much less a formal one.

But I can't be silent on this. I've spent my life in the civil rights field since my teens...civil, human, disabilites, gender, orientation, etc. . with more than two anti-war protests thrown in for sure. That is who I am and what I believe in.

This thread troubles me, not unlike what troubled me when working in special education when parents began fighting in schools for more funding for one disability over another. Autism deserves more than Down's, CP deserves more than Chromosone X....and Goddess help those with generalized cognitive or, heaven forbid, behavorial/ emotional disabilities....such a small group fighting amongst themselves, fighting between "labels" instead of for the huge task we had before us. When we did come together, we passed laws together that changed the lives of those we loved. Rights we still have to protect, but rights we didn't have when we were splintered, segregated.

Poetry, we all know, is not exactly sought after by the masses...why fight about gender between us, create segregated boards, take on yet another cause in the mix when we should be united, men and women poets, spending our time writing, honing and promoting it ?

I think to discriminate against another group, make stereotypical remarks about men on a poetry board is not the way to win the fight on behalf of women poets . It's not the way to win any cause you might champion. You use the language skills you've been blessed with, the same ones you are fighting to be recognized ...win with those skills when you speak out, be persuasive enough to change minds....granted, it takes time and patience...you touch one reader ...then another...one mind at a time. But, by doing it slowly and with empathy, you will gain far more supporters, not distance them with accusations.

I support and understand the premise of Poetic Justice but I do not support the way that is has been introduced here.

I think we all know if one needs to write, make art or music....a busy mother/wife/ woman/man/father/husband/caregiver/whatever... will find the time and a way to do it....simply because we have to. I figure that puts us all...gender, ability, orientation, religion, race, age, etc. ...in the same boat, right?

Many times without a paddle,


Pat