thoughts from the last few days

I first want to say that I am delighted that so many people have participated in a Thursday poetry post over at Delia's blog. Thank you for keeping this community alive!

Now for some thoughts of a more personal nature: With the end of Poetry Thursday last week, I was sad but felt like my time to be connected to a specific poetry community as a leader of sorts had come to a close. However, when some emails over the holiday weekend let me know that the new poetry community was not moving forward, I started thinking about the possibility of continuing my involvement in new ways.

At this point, I want to be honest that I am sitting with what to do. The announcement of the new project not moving forward needed to be made before I have had a chance to catch my breath after a holiday weekend and some other things this week.

To give myself a little time while giving the community formed at Poetry Thursday a place to go, I have asked a few participants to host the Thursday community post for the next few weeks.

I recognize that this means that people who were happy to participate but wanted to have more of a role might start something else to attempt to fill the shoes of Poetry Thursday. From my perspective, the more of us spreading the good news of poetry, the better. I must admit though that I can't help but say this:

Please do not use the Poetry Thursday name, logo/button, or banner in a new or "reconstructed" project. A few people have mentioned in comments, emails, or blog posts their desire to do so. Poetry Thursday was a partnership between Dana and me. It actually began as a small project here on my personal blog in early 2006 before this partnership was formed. Please honor these things. Thank you.

edited to add: After reading the comments and a couple of emails, I realize that there might be some misunderstanding about what I meant in the previous paragraph. I meant that I would hope people wouldn't start a new poetry project (meaning a blog or web site) with the same name and use the button, banner, and so on. I also did not mean that people should remove the PT buttons on their blogs. It is wonderful that Thursdays have become a day for poetry for many in blog world and calling that day Poetry Thursday certainly makes sense (insert smiling face here). If there is additional confusion, please don't hesitate to email me. Thanks!

I am not ready to announce specifics yet, other than to say that I am sitting with a few ideas and asking a few people for guidance/advice and so on. I plan to make my decision very soon. I have been a part of "blog world" for a while now with a blog for two years and a reader of blogs for much longer than that. I know that people can easily start a new project and make quick decisions, especially because you can begin a new blog in a matter of seconds. I don't want to start something without an almost fully formed idea in place. I hope that people will continue to participate in the Thursday posts for these next few weeks and wait and see where this road takes all of us.

Thank you for reading and have fun in the world of poetry…today and everyday…