The above title and following words are copied from a column written by Suzanne Fields :

The other day a teacher of a ninth grade English class at an elite private school in the nation's capital asked students who had transferred from public schools to list the poets they had studied. Several hands shot up eager to tell.When one of them said "Langston Hughes", the other hands went quickly down. Langston Hughes, a distinguished black poet well worth reading, was never the less the only poet they knew.

The death of our boys and girls
Attending campuses to get an education
Gets gunned down by the ones seeking to protect gun rights
The right to purchase as much guns and ammo as you can afford
While illegal street guns get blame for it all.

grade five i could read to the class and hold them mesmerized
not from the great voice i dont have..but in the delivery of oration
the pressure points of story.....pretty much the end of me selling
ideas..im terrible at it...so i assumed the alpha assist...

what the fuck is that? or wtf for those non texters..

Much has been spoken of late about how Neopoet is primarily a workshop environment and thus posting poetry for comment only is something to be frowned upon. Having been on this site for more than a few years now, I believe I can truthfully say that the Neopoet of years past was a more energetic and jovial place when things were a bit more relaxed. People used to have fun here, not only posting their poetry for mutual commentary, but also hanging out in the Chat Rooms, and discussing the many facets of life that we all share as poets. Do we see this now? No, we do not, and why?

I especially look forward to our newer members joining and some of our "old-timers" who are still a bit shy about offering critical feedback.

Neopoet survives and depends on critical feedback, it is what truly differentiates us from every other poetry site on the web.

Neopoet is going through a critique slump.
We are here to help each other.
Join the new workshop
http://www.neopoet.com/workshop/serve-poet

We are not a social site. Read the Neopoet guidelines.
"Critique, don’t comment. Neopoet is primarily a workshop environment, where you can expect to receive critique of various levels."

We should hold a review of Neopoet for a few days or so,
the last few weeks have been rather short of poets here.

I send stuff when I feel like it to a site that pays cents for them, but they send me a reminder that I haven't been there, if I leave it for a month or so.

We should send reminders to our poets that to stay silent is no good for them or the site.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man)

Option One.

I remember the day my first grandchild was born. The closer it got to his birth date the more excited I became. I was elated to tell all my Neopoet friends about him. When my son called to tell me the new baby was coming, I was up all morning waiting to get a picture from him to my cell phone. The moment I got the picture I was so proud and off to the hospital I went to see my new grand baby boy.

Back by popular demand. Come renga pool with us and experience the fun with neopoets as yourself. If you like writing Japanese poetry or simply want to learn more about this form, the Renga pool is where you want to get your feet wet, so come splash around in the Renga pool with us.