Do you think that you want to succeed on this site,
Does it matter at all how you get there?
Most people already make use of some trick,
Still you need to be shrewd for your effort to stick.
Please don't worry if you're not a poet,
The folks at the top sure won't know it!
Just be incoherent, and you can't be trite
You'll be certain to fool charlatans if you dare.
'Yes, the ‘will o' the wisp' laughs at sun-shuttered sky, '
Do you see just how easy 'prose' happens
Imagine it's 'tennis without any net, '
It is easy to write without thinking and yet
Do you find it's a game that's worth playing?
You're this far now, will you be staying?
Rule One is that rhyming is 'No-no, bye-bye! '
The best break for your nose, a supply of clothespins!
While it's true that free verse poems gush like failed dam,
There's no need for truth speaker or choir,
No boundaries really but space on the page.
Just poor players that strut and fret long on the stage
But top poets don't care where they're going
What matters is that they are showing,
That sycophants hear when they shout out, 'I am! '
Forget praise for hard work; fame is all they require.
Second Rule, should you care if your tenure is brief?
Fame is well known for passing to others.
But fame if you want it can still be some work
But to find skill on PH formidable quirk.
For political games are your best chance -
SIncerety leads to a lost dance!
'I'll give you ten points if you find tasty beef
On my site! You agree! Please eat mine, I'll eat yours!
So write often, say little, is Rule Number Three
Make them feel you are offering gold dust
From depths of your heart is what some would call smart,
If they think that you care, you will bounce up the chart.
They believe that your drivel is wisdom
Though goal of your heart is a fiefdom.
But don't look at me from the top of your tree,
For this world has a place for both diamonds and rust.
Brian Johnston
April 4,2016
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I have to agree, at least in part. I have complained that the top person for months could not possibly be popular because their poems (all 13) have low ratings and they haven't submitted one in months. This fell on deaf ears. I have been noting my popularity and a friends popularity. They both generally go up and down together in a slow cycle of several weeks. It makes no sense.
The people at the top write hundreds of letters inviting others to comment their poems. That PH encourages this with their stupid if well intentioned Treasure Island just adds fuel to the fire. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate intelligent, caring remarks like your own friend Spock, but I note that you do not include pleas for me to visit your site and read your poems either, which is why I most certainly will read your poems from time to time. You are a mensch, not a snake oil salesman!