[David Rosenthal]

Here are two probably unhelpful comments:

1. When I first came to the Sphere more than ten years ago, I think the first thread I read was something just like this one, and there have been several since then through the years.

2. I have been away from the site for significant periods of time over the years. Sometimes the resaons for dropping off have been big arguments about policies and moderator behavior, etc. But those reasons by themselves don't usually keep me away long. The main reasons for my own disappearances, and certainly for the longest of them, are usually a constellation of personal, professional, familial, and other matters that take my attention away from the Sphere, from poetry, or from both. I suspect that is the case for many people.

If there is any conlusion suggested by these two comments, it might be that what makes people come and go isn't all about the Sphere. What the Sphere has to offer is strong and gives me (and perhaps others) ample incentive to return. There is a danger sometimes in seeking "solutions" -- "Striving to better, oft we mar what's well."

David R.