My First Nickel!!!

I really must applaud Triond in its efforts to get people’s work out there. I log in today with baited breath, anxious to see if there are new comments, to see if I’ve reached more or less people today, and to see how much MONEY I’ve made so far, of course! And lo and behold, I’VE REACHED A NICKEL! (I had to look nickel up, I always want to spell it “nickle”)

Ah, the lowly nickel…how much this thumbnail-sized coin means to me in this particular context! I’m sure a lot of people are saying “dude, it’s a nickel, a mere 5 cents, what the hell’s the big deal?” Well I’ll tell you what the big deal is…I recall the first couple days, anxiously waiting for the numbers to start climbing as I loaded my page with poems I’ve written, only to be disappointed. Yes, there was some interest in my writing, but my money earned was NOT going up! I then realized it isn’t a matter of a penny for every visit, or a penny for every like, but a matter of MANY visits and MANY likes. I started to despair.

Then came my first penny, and WOW, how good that felt. It just goes to show -despair can be shattered with just the tiniest amount of hope. Hell, many of you saw my reaction to that little piece of copper with Honest Abe’s imprint…it’s been my highest read content yet. (If you truly liked it, maybe you’ll like some of my poetry –you’ll never know what you might find there.) Since it got such wide renown (comparatively, last glance showed 10 visitors) I’ve decided that I’m going to report on every denomination I hit, and I can only hope you enjoy each enough that you come back for more, all the way to the top!

Now I log in and think about that nickel showing at the top right of my screen…and again, it isn’t the cash value of the money that excites me -no, not yet, not unless I somehow get into the dollars scene. The TRUE value of that monetary number up there is that people ARE reading my words, more and more, and though not very many pieces earn a comment, or a like…hell, some don’t even get read! But that’s okay…what you people have read so far, what you people have liked, and even commented on, is more than any of these poems have ever seen. THANK YOU!

You may find my poetry too “neat” at times…and I know there will be those of you who dislike a lot of my poetry because despair was a common theme at certain points of my life…but if you like poetry at all, and specially if you like any part of one poem you read – please give them all a chance. In many cases the titles are deceptively simple, or difficult to connect to the context of the poem. So far my poems have been a random sampling from different times in my life, and I still have a few more of those to put up…but I will be mixing new poems in as they hit me.

As always, any comments you have towards me, good or bad, I would like to hear. If you don’t want to add to my numbers with a comment, you can always mail me about it: what you liked, what you didn’t like, suggestions, errors, derogatory comments (although I would prefer to get those in mail than stuck to a piece of my writings, I am still perfectly willing to give them due weight), anything this poem makes you say, feel free to. I’m not a new author, but you’re never too new to learn and these poems have been hidden away for years, with only my own criticism aimed at them.

As for mail, I’ve had a couple people mail me comments rather than using the commenting board. That’s fine, and in some cases, I click on the sender and view a little of what they write…at least, if they show they actually read my work instead of merely trying to up their own views. I have no problem reading other authors’ work, and I even enjoy a lot of the images that have been put up, but I will not be used ONLY as a means to an end. I spend my time wisely, not to please anyone in particular, but to enjoy life to its fullest -and sometimes enjoying life is helping someone out. OFTEN, it is used by gaining a new perspective on things, SEEING new things, discovering beauty that you’ve never seen before and finding it in another person. If after reading my work you think you have something I may like, bring it up…I may miss it, as I tend to multitask while I’m on Triond. Just please don’t expect me to read everything of yours…there are certain subjects I find of interest, and they tend to be more philosophy, humor (TRUE humor), fantasy, and science fiction. Those subjects…or even elements of subjects…show the “flavoring” of an author. What they find funny, what mystical bits of imagination they have, what they believe in or what they have come to believe after living up to that point. Nonpersonal nonfiction tends not to bring that out, so it’s very rare that I will look at something like that unless it’s by an author I’ve already grown to admire.

In closing up, before you all just give up and move on to the next thing without even bothering to click if you like or have a comment…thank you, gracious readers, for my First Nickel…and keep up the good work yourselves!!!