I find all of this disharmony upsetting, and so I shall make one more attempt at trying to settle it once & for all.
I can understand Gary Harding’s disappointment at thinking he had essentially found his poetic Nirvana, only to be naturally shocked at the prospect of profanity being ‘lauded’ and ‘condoned’ by judges and members alike. It was a twofold error from the start. Firstly, my error in labelling, and secondly Gary’s knee jerk reaction based on assumption. (When we ‘assume’ we make an ass out of you and me...
) Unfortunately, egos seemed to de-rail a thread that should have been celebratory, and that is highly regrettable for all. Members, and especially new members, need to be aware that many of us have worked together, and have become good friends over the years, so it is not surprising that we rise to the defence of our mates when they are perceived to be under attack. This is a one dimensional communication system. We do not have the benefit of seeing body language or of hearing voice tone, so it is very vulnerable to misinterpretation. I try to live by a little rule; never press ‘send’ while emotionally distressed…or ‘offended.’ I believe one always ultimately regrets doing so….or should.
The other important thing affecting me is that I rely upon my highly respected reputation to be professionally engaged, to financially support myself. Concerted thought needs to be given to how this pandemonium will impact upon my opportunities for same. Organisers seeing the accusations against me in this thread may well decide that they wish to avoid such hullabaloo, and not engage me. This is a serious issue and needs to be taken seriously. I absolutely do not ‘condone’ or ‘laud’ profanity within our craft, and I think that Gary Harding should acknowledge his erroneously stating that I do. In my 19 years of contributing to our craft I have only seen about 3 or 4 instances of profanity in competition entries, and I have complained directly to the relevant author and/or their organisers for same.
In the interests of returning to our normally mutually supportive ethic, I suggest that we put this issue to rest now. I have learned from it to be more astute in my labelling, and one can only hope that Gary Harding has learned that blasting through a newly embraced group, with guns blazing, on a faulty premise, is not productive to being ‘welcomed into the fold.’ From what I’ve seen of Gary’s poetry, and (prior) input, he could be an asset to our Association, but I urge him to tread a little lighter in his demands for one and all to embrace his particular moral code. We all have differing values, and through my interactions with the ABPA members, I confidently state that all have a high moral standard, that is inappropriate to challenge.
I do hope that this finalises this unfortunate episode, & that we can all return to actually enjoying our craft and our on-site interactions.
Glenny Palmer
