Time to Say Goodbye

Sort of…

Anyone who noticed Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Poems more recently may not know its roots and why I launched it.

It was early 2022, my eldest son was soon to exit this world, and I started writing poetry to process things and express my feelings. A poetry publication approached me and invited me to publish there, but I soon became dissatisfied because it felt like I was dealing with a faceless entity with no soul. Being the control freak that I am — sometimes, it is better to be honest with oneself — I decided to set up a publication of my own.

I am very grateful to my brother from another mother, Jason Provencio, also (rightly) known as The Godfather of Medium, for allowing me to piggyback onto his ‘Bouncin’ and Behavin’’ brand. Jason’s a cool guy, and we have a similar worldview and values, so it made perfect sense to share his name and benefit from his proactive efforts to attract more authors. It was incredibly kind of him to agree, to be frank. I was a newbie nobody with a hundred or so followers, so I am not sure what was in it for him!

It’s over two years since my beautiful boy passed away, a lot of time to reset, bounce back and move on. My estranged daughter recently came back into my life, and a sad era was finally coming to an end. I am at peace.

During that time, I moved away from poetry and editing the pub felt like an increasingly heavy burden as my obsessional traits kicked in. Do other editors ask themselves whether they missed something or made the right call? I started feeling like a neurotic. Besides, who am I to decide how others should present their poetry? I am not exactly an expert.

When I concluded that a couple of poets were using AI this week and removed all of their work, a little voice asked me if may be mistaken. I doubt that I was, but you get my point. If you’re going to own a publication, you should care. You should have a vision. You should have the energy to focus on that vision. Well, I think someone else should do that now.

Someone else needs to take the reins, not only for Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Poems but also its UK-based sister publication, Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Short Stories.

It is with absolutely no regret that I am moving on. I can’t believe how far the publications have come. Along the way, I have met loads of great people. I am not going anywhere, and you may even see more poetry and short stories from me.

There is some unfinished business that I need to take care of. When we ran the competition last year, we promised a book. I keep my promises, and I am sorry that was not completed by the end of last year. Please be assured that I am going to make that happen this year. I may even run another competition if the new owners want me to handle that side of things. That will be up to them.

Whoever takes over the publications will be able to take it in any direction they want, which is why Jason and I want to ensure it is in safe hands. On that note, I want to thank Suzy Jacobson Cherry for her help as an editor. Thank you so much. I think you would make an excellent owner for either or both of my publications. If not, you should be part of the process of identifying the new owner(s).

These are the values that I hope will outlive my tenure as founder and owner:

Left-leaning — I think Jason, Suzy and I are as far away from MAGA, Trumpian right-wing thinking as it gets. If the publication got into the hands of a climate-change-denying, flat-Earth-believing, Covid-denying, gung-ho-more-guns-are-the-answer-to-everything type, I’d be gutted. On the last note, however, I accept that there’s a massive cultural gap, and Brits like me will never understand the US’s obsession with guns. So, I’m fine with the new owner having an arsenal of weapons in their shed if that’s what floats their boat and they are none of the other things mentioned.

Open-minded — even considering the above, we should be, first and foremost, open-minded as long as nobody’s being hated. We should allow all healthy voices to be heard, and I guess that even includes those with different political views, as long as everyone’s respected.

• No racism
• No anti-LGBTQI
• And a spirit of inclusiveness for all.

Risque — we accepted almost anything. Some of our authors have submitted quite steamy stuff. You’ve written about trauma, neurodiversity, the ups and downs of life in the raw, and a wide range of experiences. It has been brilliant working with you.

Accessible — A while ago, I asked poets to add some words of context as an introduction or afterthought, even when the meaning behind the poem was obvious. Shouldn’t we be here to connect with others? If not, why publish? Do we really want readers to walk away from our work scratching their heads — “That writer’s a genius, a far more sophisticated poet than me, but (whispered) I have no clue what their poem’s about — I mustn’t be smart enough.” We’re not here to win awards. We’re here to express truth. I want my readers to feel my truth, even if I have to give them a nudge.

I think that’s all, folks. Yes, I know, I didn’t mention the nationality thing. Well, Jason doesn’t do it in his posts, and the jury’s out. OH, but I will tell you what I do hope the new owners will encourage…

INTERNATIONAL POETRY

PLEASE keep that part going as well.

And that, my friends, is all.

I am still officially the owner and will be overseeing things until the new owner is in place, but you won’t hear from me now until that’s happened.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for being a part of a fantastic experience.

Martin Morrison — Human