Welcome to our eighth week of Open Link Night, though everything still feels like opening night for me. The enthusiasm and the fun of getting together at the pub, reading old friends and meeting new poets is just as exciting as week one. This is hedgewitch (Joy Ann Jones) and tonight I’m the hostess behind the bar, ready to serve up everyone’s poetic beverage of choice.

For our friends scattered around the world, this weekend marked the last federal  holiday of the summer in the U.S, Labor Day. It has a rather interesting and mostly ignored history in the bloody Labor Union struggles of the turn of the 20^th century. It began in 1882 with a day informally celebrating organized labor by the Central Labor Union of New York. I’ll quote wikipedia on how it became a national holiday : “It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike …”

Hard to imagine any legislation being “rushed through Congress unanimously” any more!

Typically, we Americans celebrate this day originating in coflict and turmoil and dedicated to the blood, sweat and tears of our workers by being as lazy and kicked back as possible.  I hope all here in the US have had a great holiday, barbecuing and picnicking, getting together with friends and family, taking a short trip or just lazing around. But today marked the return to work and school for most, and some relaxtion at the pub and a few rounds of poetry with friends is just what the doctor ordered to lift the post-holiday blues.

So it’s time to bring out your best to be read and enjoyed by one of the finest poetry communities online. There are no rules or prompts or subjects for what you submit; this is a chance for you the writer to share with readers, and to encourage and enjoy the writing of others.

Here’s the drill:

• Post a poem to your blog,
• Link in the poem you’d like to share (1 per blog, please) by clicking on the Mr.Linky button just below.
• This opens a new screen where you’ll enter your information, and where you also choose links to read. Once you have pasted your poem’s blog url and entered your name, simply click submit.
• Don’t forget to let your readers know where you’re linking up and encourage them to participate by including a link to dVerse in your blog post.
• Visit as many other poems as you like, commenting  as you see fit.
• Spread the word on the poems you enjoy if you’d like. Feel free to tweet and share on the social media of your choice.
• Finally, enjoy! Remember, we are here for each other. Engage your fellow poets, talk, chat, comment, let them know their work is being read, and enjoy the input you also will receive. This is all about community.