Hello Pubbers!!

Welcome to this week's meeting of the Poets Pub. I hope everyone had an awesome Valentine's Day filled with love and family. We have had a bit of a slow week here at the Pub, but we have some exciting new things in store for you all.

We do have quite a few new members so I would like to take this time to encourage all of our new members to add this book to your private reading list so that you will receive our weekly newsletter and stay up to date on everything happing at the Pub. I would also like to direct you to our book:

Behind the Bar
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/WNPV0gm58y

It has introductions to the admins of the Pub as well as all of our rules and regulations.

So if everyone has their drinks in hand, they are always on the house of course, and found a comfy place to sit, we will get started with announcements.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Poem-A-Day –

We have posted quite a few new Poem-A-Day entries this week, if you haven't checked them out you can find them here.

Poem A Day Challenge - 2017
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/MffdDaIeRA

You can join the Poem-A-Day challenge anytime. All you have to do is be a member of the Pub (follow us), send us a private message that you would like to join, add the hashtag #PPpoem-a-day to the book you are using and then start writing a poem a day. We also ask that once a week you send us one of the poems from your poem-a-day book to be added to the Pub collection. We also have a sticker that you can use to proudly display your participation in this challenge.

For those of you who have already accepted this challenge I want to give you some encouragement. I know that life comes along and interrupts our best laid plans. If you have gotten behind in writing, don't worry about trying to catch up just continue from where you are and keep writing. You can do it!!

Members Drive –

Our members drive is going very well. We now have over 5.6k members!! Great job everyone!! Keep inviting new friends to join the Pub. Our goal is to make this the biggest and best poetry group on Wattpad!! What do you say Pubbers, let's go for it!!

Pubber Interviews –

This week I posted our interview with our 2016 Pubber of the Year RichardHigley and today I posted the interviews with our 2016 Pubber of the Year runners up, Andrewagreen and AmbergrisJane. They are both exceptional poets and we are tremendously lucky to have them as members of the Pub. Look for next week's interview, which will be with MichaelTyger our January 2017 contest winner. You can find all of the interviews here:

Poets Pub Pubber Interviews
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/wb1FbuTeRA

SUBMISSIONS:

OPEN SUBMISSIONS:

For New Members:

poeTRY
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/fWPk7NawTz

10 Things About Me
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/bwOvuPewTz

For ALL Members:

All You Need is Love - February 2017 Contest
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/vYuAACpnsA

Pub Chatter Poetry Prompts
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/MKzIiX7JgA

Family Treasures
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/nKeUJYJKgA

Moon Limerick
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/COTta7wKgA

Tanka/Haiku/Senryu
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/VtWGNayLgA

We have several other collections that are open for submissions, if you have any questions about any of our collections, please do not hesitate to ask!

As always please Private Message any entry you wish to share to @PoetsPub and be sure to include the name of the collection you want it added to, your screen name and the title of the poem. For a complete list of Pub rules and regulations see "Behind the Bar" which can be found here:

Behind the Bar
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/WNPV0gm58y

Personal Announcements:

Finally remember to send us any personal announcements you would like me to include in the Chatter, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc. Just message me here at the Pub and I will be sure to get it in the Chatter.

OLD BUSINESS:

Our February contest is going very well! We only have a week and a half left for this contest so be sure to get your entries in by February 28th.

Everyone is allowed three (3) entries for this contest. The first poem must be 20 lines or less and must be an original (not posted on Wattpad before) and the other two may be ones that you have posted in your own collections before (but not in any of the previous Pub collections).

All of the information for this month's competition can be found here:

All You Need is Love - February 2017 Contest
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/vYuAACpnsA

NEW BUSINESS:

So we have a new challenge for you all!! Looking forward to April's contest we want all of you to give us your suggestions for what you want the contest to be.

Starting today you will have two (2) weeks, until March 10th to submit your suggestions for the April contest. On March 17th I will announce, here in the Chatter, the top 10 suggestions, as decided upon by the Poets Pub admins. Then you will have two weeks, until March 31st, to vote on which one you like best. Whichever suggestion gets the most votes will be the April 2017 contest.

So the first step is for all of you to leave your suggestions in the comments. You are allowed to leave more than one. You have until March 10th to make your suggestions! So Pubbers show us what you've got, I am really excited to hear what you come up with.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

MYNA'S MUSINGS:

In the fashion of all the retail stores I am going to throw out all of the Valentine's Day decorations and rush in the St. Patrick's Day ones.

Did you know that the original folktales about leprechauns described them as having worn red jackets with golden buttons instead of the green ones we see them in today? Also not only do they have a pot of gold (which they earned as a cobbler) hidden at the end of a rainbow, if you are lucky enough to catch a leprechaun you just might be able to talk him into giving you three wishes. And yes it will be a "him" because all leprechauns are males.

Here is a great poem about these wonderful fairy creatures:

The Lepracaun Or Fairy Shoemaker
By William Allingham

Little Cowboy, what have you heard,
Up on the lonely rath's green mound?
Only the plaintive yellow bird
Sighing in sultry fields around,
Chary, chary, chary, chee-ee! -
Only the grasshopper and the bee? -
'Tip-tap, rip-rap,
Tick-a-tack-too!
Scarlet leather, sewn together,
This will make a shoe.
Left, right, pull it tight;
Summer days are warm;
Underground in winter,
Laughing at the storm! '
Lay your ear close to the hill.
Do you not catch th etiny clamour,
Busy click of an elfin hammer.
Voice of the Lepracaun singing shrill
As he merrily plies his trade?
He's a span
And a quarter in height,
Get him in sight, hold him tight,
And you're a made
Man!

You watch your cattle the summerday,
Sup on potatoes, sleep in the hay;
how would you like to roll in your carriage,
Look for a duchess's daughter in marriage?
Seize the shoemaker - then you may!
'Big boots a -hunting,
Sandals in the hall,
White for a wedding feast,
Pink for a ball.
This way, that way,
So we makea shoe;
Getting rich every stitch,
Tick-a-tack too! '
Nine and ninety treasure crocks
This keen miser fairy hath,
Hid in the mountains, woods and rocks,
Ruin and round-tow'r, cave and rath,
And where cormorants build;
From times of old
Guarded by him;
Each of them fill'd
Full to the brim
With gold!

I caught him at work one day, myself,
In the castle ditch where fox-glove grows, -
A wrinkled, wizen'd and bearded Elf,
Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,
Silver buckles to his hose,
Leather apron - shoe in his lap -
'Rip-rap, tip-tap,
Tick-tack-too!
(A grasshopper on my cap!
Away the moth flew!)
Buskins for a fairy prince,
Brogues for his son -
Pay me well, pay me well,
When the job is done! '
The rogue was mine, beyond a doubt.
I stared at him, he stared at me;
'Servant Sir! ' 'Humph' says he,
And pull'd a snuff-box out.
He took a long pinch, look'd better pleased,
The queer little Lepracaun;
Offer'd the box with a whimsical grace, -
Pouf! He flung the dust in my face,
And while I sneezed,
Was gone!

PROMPTS:

#1 – Write a poem about finding and catching a leprechaun. Would you ask for his pot of gold or the three wishes? What would those wishes be?

#2 – Write a poem as if you were a leprechaun. What would your day be like? Where would you go and what would you do?

Remember that you are welcome to submit any poems you write off of these prompts to the Pub so that we can add them to our Chatter Prompt Collection.

Pub Chatter Poetry Prompts
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/MKzIiX7JgA

DOWN AT THE SALOON:

There has been quite a bit of activity over at the storytellers-saloon . The owner and operator Ruechari has issued a new writing challenge, Dating Disasters. This is a short story challenge (100 – 2000 max) about a date from hell or a truly embarrassing date. It sounds like a lot of fun! If you are interested head over and check it out. The competition ends on February 28th and winner will be announced March 3rd. You can find all the details here:

Dating Disasters
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/JA2SsHrfRA

Of course if you haven't checked out the saga of Busted Gulch lately you better do so! For a dusty little town things change very quickly, you don't want to miss anything!

Busted Gulch Vol. 3
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/qKQ1BoI3py

Of course while you are there you can check out the new Guide to the Busted Gulch series. It introduces you to the dusty town of Busted Gulch and how the story has come together. Rue is adding more to it all the time. Soon it will have bios of all your favorite Busted Gulch characters. You can check it out here:

A Guide to Busted Gulch
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/X0K9GmctFA

Well that is it for is week. I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!! Stay safe and write something new. As always stay as long as you like, introduce yourself to someone new and the drinks are always on the house!!

Cheers from your Mystres of Chatter
MystresMyna