Good evening/afternoon/morning poets; please choose the time of day that is appropriate to where you are … smiles. My name is Tony Maude, and once again it is my pleasure to welcome you to the weekly poetry extravaganza that is Open Link Night here at dVerse.

Last Friday afternoon I came home from my volunteer spot at the Grassmarket Community Project in Edinburgh to find a brown envelope addressed to me lying behind the front door of our house. I had no clue who it could be from; the postmark was for the southwest of England and the only people I know there would have handwritten the address on the envelope. It was typed. Curious, I opened the letter and read:

Dear Tony

THE BOOK OF LOVE AND LOSS (The Anthology) edited by R V Bailey and June Hall

1. We would very much like to publish under the Belgrave Press imprint the following poems which you have submitted for this Anthology: …

You could have knocked me down with the proverbial feather.

Now, I’m not telling you this in order to receive your congratulations – although I am very happy to receive them. Nor am I telling you this in some kind of boastful way. My reason for letting you know about this small success in my writing career is because it would not have happened apart from my involvement at dVerse.

You see, the poem that has been accepted for inclusion in the above anthology is one that I wrote and then linked up to the 100th Open Link Night, which was six months ago now. One of the Pub regulars – step forward Viv Blake – read my poem then commented that she thought it would be ideal for inclusion in an anthology that she knew was being prepared and strongly encouraged me to submit it to the editors.

Now, if Viv had not alerted me to the opportunity that this forthcoming anthology presented, I would never have submitted my work because I would not have known where to send it. In the world of poetry, there are far more publication opportunities than any of us can possibly keep abreast of, but …

At dVerse we have poets from every corner of the globe and many of us know about some of the opportunities for publication of our work that exist. If, in the course of reading each other’s work we think, “That poem might be well received by …” then I think it would be brilliant to let the writer know. Viv did that for me and the rest, as they say, is history.

It is this kind of thing that builds community, and here at dVerse that’s what we want to be; a community of poets who encourage one another as we seek to enjoy and develop the art of using words to enable people to see the world with fresh eyes.

OK, OK – you didn’t come here to listen to me talking. What you want to do is link your poem and then get out on the trail to read and comment on other people’s work …

So without further ado, let’s get to the poetry. The regulars know how this works, but for any newcomers here’s what to do:

Write a poem and post it to your webpage.

Click on the Mr. Linky button below and enter your name and direct url/web address to your poem; one poem per person please.

There you will also find the list of those participating this week. You might want to refresh this occasionally or check back in as there are people joining over the next 33 hours.

If it’s your first time here, please leave a comment to say so. That makes it much easier for us to find you and encourage you by visiting your site.

Please take time to read the work of some of the other poets who have linked – we don’t expect anyone to read all the links. Let them know what you thought, how their poem moved you, what caught your attention etc. The not-so-secret formula to receiving more visits and comments on your blog is to read and comment on other people’s poems. Please don’t forget to return the favour of those who have visited and commented on your work.

Encourage others to participate through social media, promote both your own work and others.

Have fun meeting and engaging with your fellow poets.

PS Get well soon Viv … smiles