WORDLOVERS
Stays reasonably steady with seventeen members. Not always the same seventeen members, of course. As with any group there is a core of posters,  but there is a sense of life and bustle which seems to me to be unique in email groups. "Wordlovers Rocks!" said one member to me on ICQ only days ago. This despite flu bugs and other things getting in the way. There are also a steady group of 'readers' who seem, for the most part to be loyal as well as quiet. 

Forty messages in May, 
Eighty nine in June, 
One hundred and three in July
Two hundred and seventy six in August, 
and, already, two hundred and twenty six in the first fourteen days of September. 

With this amount of traffic I begin to understand why scribble began to show signs of wear and strain. There seemed to be no way forward - cross posting is exhausting and gives no idea of the light and bustle of the area. While Malcolm in Australia stands by ready to 'gate' wordlovers to the echo no one wants (I think) to turn into a News Group, and eGroups has been flat out, busy with all sorts of things and has not replied. Meanwhile I was not getting to do the bit that I loved most. 
Not only that but both Wordlovers and Scribble were being bombarded with mail from one person - and that the one person who was no longer actually writing and responding.  As of this morning an experimental 'digest' has been set up.  It still takes time and needs editing but it is more complete - and more ignorable for those who have limited time and energy..If this doesn't work we'll simply find something new to do. 

With all this 'to do and to don't' did anything actually happen in these last two months - in the field of poetry that is ? 

Lets go through and find out.. 

Every month I see poems that never go through Wordlovers or the Echo. Some of them are outstanding, some go straight on to the Nexus Site, some sit there beckoning me to do something more with them. Some never quite come to anything.

Two of our most lively wordlovers began shyly, almost timidly, by writing to me privately in just this way. Marie was already part of Wordlovers, but still shy of posting. This lady has style and insight. Her poetry is sensuous and delicate, her sense of humour, and her powers of observation are stunning. When the time came to chose 'the most memorable poem of the month my first instinct was to choose 'walking on' - a powerful piece of writing in its own right, this poem tells a complete emotional history. However, in the end, the longer Old friends, new friends, best friends, lovers with it's subtleties overshadowed even that beautiful work and reigned supreme in the memory. I'm happy to say that her September poems continue this impressive standard. 

Ray Pacello was also one who first wrote, privately to Scribbler.  His quality was immediately obvious, as was his sensitivity and charm. Technique was severely hampered by his being new to the whole field of poetry, and by his 'writing in a vacuum'.  Now Ray has made several significant technical break throughs, and Marie has produced poem of the month for the second time in a row. 

As if that were not enough we have  new poets posting who seem likely to give us all a run when it comes to quality and passion. 

Recently a poet known only as COSFORD produced a single gem for us to read an ponder, here it is in part: [blackness is crisp and clean; a void sweetly curled for those who are dirtier than black; who long for nothing but to gain the heart beat of life.] And that would explain where i come from. Just one work, and one work alone to be sent:

                        seduction of humbleness:

                        candles reflect the mood
                        casting pooling shadows;
                       a shifting fluid blurring
                         sharp edges of truth.

ALICIA PETERSON & MURRAY CAMPBELL
submitted poetry just past the deadline, but they are both worth keeping an eye on for the future. 

TINA
resurfaced late in August to repost a poem we had previously asked permission to publish. She has since posted several more, good quality, tantalizing material, so it is a case of 'Welcome Back Tina'. The poem in question is Warped Halos and Temptations

Walking in the shadow,
Walking in the light, 
My friend, tell me which one is safer: -
The darkness, or the light? 

CHANGELING
Had the misfortune to enter Wordlovers right when we were battling the flu bugs, so probably doesn't even know yet that the work shown us so far is valued and appreciated.  I was particularly struck by 

here's reality ,
held in shaking hands ,
a barbed wire bouquet ,
and the blood of tomorrow ,
seeping deep in truths veins.

It looks as if the Net Scribble adventure is off to a prolific and creative start.