HelloPoetry

Okay campers, welcome to "Hell No poetry" the best place on the World Wide Web to have your poetry and personal character assaulted by the worst trolls anywhere to be found. It's a quaint little stroll at first, enjoyable and fun, and then, once you get noticed, you become a target for the HP elite 'home guard'. I mean, after all, how dare you steal glory from them! First there is the ringleader, r aka Woody, aka James and many other accounts (he even tried to pass himself off as a Lakota Indian once). Then you have his sidekick and and subservient crackwhore and noted criminal Vicky aka Deena and many other accounts., Following with his nose so far up Rick's $#*! his face explodes when r farts, there is Gary Loftis, career criminal, drug addict and woman beater. They have a few more in their gang of misfits, but they are the core of the issue.The site owner, Eliot York who hasn't figured out where his testes are yet, follows their advice and their lead instead of running his poetry site, and never responds to issues from other members. This place is poison for decent minded poets, avoid it like the plague!

What is Hello Poetry?
Hello Poetry (HePo) is for the poetry in your life; a place to belong; a place to practice expression, play, reflection, vulnerability, exposure, forgiveness; a place to be unfinished, unpolished, works in progress; a safe space for your expression, creativity and chaos; a tight-knit online community; whatever you want it to be.

Who Am I - The Reviewer
- I have been a community member and contributor on this site since 2011
- I enjoy the HePo who's who game but do not propose it to anyone
- My review is tight. Everything I do on the site is a test. I know what I know is true.

So You Want To Join Hello Poetry - Know This
- Eliot York and his moderators are the trolls
- Eliot York and his moderators are the cause of good members going rogue
- Eliot and his moderator use site tracking tools against you that you do not have
- Eliot and his moderators will invade your privacy to find out who you are
- When you join and log in, the moderators track your IP address
- If you upload photos, the moderators track your metadata
- If you upload photos, the moderators will do a reverse image search to find out who you are
- If you use your real name, the moderators will do a background check on you
- Eventually, you will be DM'ed from several accounts, all from the same moderator, phishing info
- If you are okay with all of this and get with the program, you can be part of the community
- If you find an invasion of your privacy offensive, then you leave or slowly lose a war, your choice

If You Still Want To Join
- Always use a VPN
- Do not use your real name
- If you reveal a profile location, make it match your VPN location
- Remove all metadata from your photos
- Do not use a photo of your face unless you know how to alter it so that reverse image lookup won't work.

If You Want Multiple Accounts
- Use a different VPN location for each account
- Use a different browser for each account
- Limit your direct messages and responses
- Limit your comments and replies
- Become a competent character writer
- Blend in and do not offer your best work
- Do not be bluffed
- Do not be gullible. No matter what you think, many of the accounts are the same person
- There is one moderator who is very good at beating you at this game.
- You will win some and lose some, be at peace with it

Do You Still Want To Join?
- For the last year or more, the site throws an absurd number of -502 errors
- The site works so poorly as of this review that you cannot get the site to send you an email verification
- At this time, you cannot complete your new account setup.

Are There Legal Issues?
- It wouldn't be a surprise if Eliot is being sued by community members
- Several years back, Eliot solicited funds from the community for a mobile application he didn't deliver
- Some contributions amounted to hundreds of dollars

The Hello Poetry site is dead. All the actual members other than a few have left or stopped posting. New account requests cannot be completed except by the moderators who flood the system. Nearly all of the poetry you see is from Eliot and his moderators, especially one of the moderators.

Do You Still Want To Join?
- You can't
- Go elsewhere
- Don't look back

It is an amazing place to share your poetry. All these comments about "Home Guard" are lies. Sometimes there are issues, but they are usually resolved within a week. It could be better, but everything can. Most of the people on there are kind, and Eliot York is doing a fine job of maintaining the website. I love it and it is easy to use. Definitely recommend. But also, I kind of wish it included an option to italicize within the website. But it's still awesome anyway.

It is a great exchange and more important than anything, you can grow as a poet here.
Great to read and review works of other poets, many of us are loners by nature.
There is a respect and understanding here of what writing is and what it takes to do it.

I had posted a poem a few years back and I cant find it anywhere. Why did you delete it? I do not have the paper copy anymore so that was my only way to find it again was on your website. Thanks for deleting my heart felt poem $#*!

My name is Ben Noah Suri & I've been on HP since the end of 2009. I left HP in 2015 completely disgusted with the sickness which affected it after 2012 but rejoined in 2017 primarily due to a few good poets who are found there.

Only those who have been on Hello Poetry since its inception or at least over the past decade will understand what we mean when we say, "Hello poetry is not as it once was"

In the beginning Hello poetry was a paradise for likeminded genuine poets but then came the riff-raff in the guise of poets. Just as the Hippie Movement was destroyed by fake Hippies so too Hello Poetry has been destroyed by Fake Poets who throw some money to the Promoter and are therefore allowed to do as they please without any checks and balances. Their intent is not to write poetry but to play politics, indulge in illicit relationships, threaten and bully others, form coteries and expect their groups to reign over others and remain loyal to them, sling mud on all those who speak the Truth or oppose them, etc

This may sound rather pessimistic and discouraging to the newbies who join Hello Poetry but that's the Truth and we just can't sweep the Truth under the carpet.

My presence on Hello Poetry in spite of all the negative things happening there and the dysfunctional technology which hinders me speaks volumes of my love for poetry...

Speaking of Technology I must say that it takes me more time to post a poem here than to write one. Notifications don't work and you are greeted with "502 Bad Gateway" whenever you try to post a poem. The messaging feature on Hello Poetry does not have a delete option and anything shared as a Private Message will remain permanently for the Admins to read. Since I have nothing to hide I have not been overly worried about this but I warn romantically inclined poets to beware of using this feature.

I also suspect that only those who donate money are allowed to reach out to a wider audience and guys like me find my posts are throttled and choked off. I'm quite sure that some software is being used to do this. The message is quite clear, "Toe the Line or remain Unread".

Messages sent to the Administrator cum promoter Elliot York are never responded to, by him. I'm sure the money he has collected as donations from fellow poets would be sufficient to create 5 or 6 such sites with better features.

The Admins here expect us to support this site but we poets are mostly broke and live a hand to mouth existence. Expecting poets to fund the site is rather futile on the part of the promoter. If he really wanted to make money from this site he should have created a site for billionaires not for poets...

Ben Noah Suri

Honestly, i was shocked at some of the 1-star comments, i have been a member of this site for years (along with two of my closest friends) and all i had ever seen was feedback on my poetry, friends and other poets who love to write. I did a little research on the whole "House Guard" thing, and while i suppose it is real, it seems to be a very small group of people involved, and there is a lot more to the story than what is shared below. Generally a very good place to make friends and write your heart out.

First off, the site manager, Eliot York, is about as useful as tits on a bull as a webmaster. He does not respond to member issues. He does not enforce his own guidelines and he allows bullies and popularity seeking trolls to run roughshod over the site... the key antagonists call themselves "the home guard" when, in fact, they are the most vile, wicked and spiteful group of self loving maggots on the poetry internet.

These so called "real poets of Hello Poetry" maintain control over the site by using multiple accounts (some of them have up to a dozen different personae) to grant themselves popularity and to gang up on those whom they choose to chastise and humiliate and, eventually, run off the site. It boils down to sociopaths with narcissistic personality disorder, who envision themselves as elitists and gifted writers, while they are basically poem repeaters, plagiarists and drunks and drug addicts with failed lives and a grandiose sense of self esteem and importance.

Should you question them, or get too popular, they will create lies to convince Eliot to remove you from the site. They pay him quite nicely for his "troubles". And they maintain their reign of terror through attrition and inboxed harassment and death threats. Including blackmail... and willful defamation of character.

They would rather be tadpoles in a mudhole than be fish in a potentially much larger pond. If you value your reputation and your writings, do not taint them with the indelible stain which Hello Poetry will leave upon you...

The guidelines are simple. Be courteous and respectful. Harassment or abuse not tolerated. No spamming or posting of overly obscene or hateful content.

The problem is that Eliot York or designee will not help if you are harassed or abused. You will never get a response to a complaint. Because of that a group of members who call themselves the Home Guard, have developed their own rules not stated in the guidelines. If you then get caught breaking their undocumented rules, the Home Guard will come after you with extreme harassment and abuse in the form of hateful poetry directed toward you and grapevine gossip hate via private inbox messages designed to defame your profile name. User beware, never use your real name on your Hello Poetry profile. Even worse, several members use Hello Poetry as a dating site and if you break someones heart they could very well come after you with the power of the Home Guard clique should they be well connected.

Hello Poetry can be a fun something to do for years if your keep your relationships with others on the runway and stay away from getting involved via private inbox. There are several members with real problems on this site which can and does result in cruel behavior.

Good luck, not even I know all the undocumented rules of the Home Guard and I have been a well respected member for years watching a variety of good poets be defamed and run off the site for I don't now what. If the Home Guard wants you off they will make up stuff to do it.

Just recently, I reinstated my presence on the site of "Hello Poetry". My decision was not from the comments I have read. My decision was made from moments of missing the most inspirational poems from writers. Yes, all of the poems posted from true writers, exercise their "right" to write what their lives are all about. Included are my "writes" from the now and then. The people posting negative comments should dedicate their time to their followers who think and write negatively. My writing life has improved during the time I devoted to reading the "writes" of many talented individuals and submitting my "writes" in the "right" space on "Hello Poetry's" site.

To those with the negative comments about witchcraft and dooms day followers, there is an army of many out there looking for you to follow them. Since I have posted and read the "writes" of my poetic friends on the site of "Hello Poetry" I have been inspired to return to writing. I recall moments in plans to give up writing until I have been accepted with a well-know on-line website design team. I received assistance in re-designing my website, I now have many affiliate members of small and big companies supporting my creations. I also completed my 1st novel, the manuscript was accepted by a New York publisher. Amazon has posted my KDP Kindle publications. My creativity is from God who directs me "which" way to direct my thoughts, then I write on....far away from the "witch" who is not crafty or creative at all....I am now on my way to read the pages of poems posted on "Hello Poetry"....this is the best way to begin and end a beautiful day in God's creations....

Hello poetry is in fact a saggy, hairy ballsack masquerading as a poetry site. 1 out of 10 would not bang, would not recommend. It was ok at first, now it sucks major gonads

It's a user-friendly site with some nice features like collections, trending and re-posting. But it goes through phases of "trouble" between members and is currently invitation-only if anyone wishes to join. A number of writers have been hacked and a small group of prima-donnas block anyone they see as a threat or talent greater than theirs. All a bit bizarre. But if you like drama, it's the place to be, along with Allpoetry and writerscafe. Oddly enough, most of those who cause drama are also on those sites.

I see a lot of reviews of this site that say all of these dark things are happening there: bullying, witchcraft, trolls, and even a prostitution ring - like, what?! I haven't seen evidence of these kinds of things and I'm not sure how any of that would even work, since other than private messaging, it isn't like you can post photos, or like you have to share anything you don't want to. I've posted lots of poetry here and have really developed as a writer. I follow a group of poets who I think are very talented and it is wonderful to be able to access the imagery, ideas and emotions they convey on a regular basis, since, in real life, it can be hard to find people that share this kind of vision of the world. I've been absolutely stunned by some of the pieces I've read there and they continue to impact me emotionally to this day. All you have to do is be a bit careful. I realized that there isn't any sort of "background" check for people there, so changed from my real name to a pen name, just to be safe. Otherwise, nice site to exchange writing with other poetically minded souls.

HELLOPOETRY IS a front for a chinese prostitution ring. DO NOT GET INVOLVED with these people. I told the site owner Eliot York about this situation and he never got back to me. He doesn't seem to care what type of criminal involement he gets tangled up with as long as they pay him. The federal authorities have been contacted. Skip this site.

Nice website for writers with considerable comments and a fabulous mix of poets. Everyone seems warm and friendly and actually read and comment to their fellow writers. A fantastic place to both share and learn your work.

Its an excellent website for poetry!
Excellent user interface but need more feature i think
And they don't have app for there website that's a drawback.

This is a wonderful site for writers and a great way to show your poems. With considerable comments and a fabulous mix of poets. Everyone seems warm and friendly and actually read and comment to their fellow writers. A fantastic place to both share and learn your work.

The site is amazing really. I've been a part of the community since 2012 and have never faced such problems which I see some dumb people posting as reviews. Well if they minded their own business like me then surely there has been nothing that has happened that would make me feel otherwise about the site. The site is very close to me as I first started writing my poetry from here. The owner is currently raising funds for the app and it's because of our demands. If you're a loyal user then you do get emails from him asking for opinions or what we would like to see added. So most of us wanted an app and he's actually doing it! But because of dumb people leaving wrong reviews here he's falling back... He has been raising money for two years now. So you can understand the struggle. He might not be there to heed each and every stupid issue of yours because he's actually the only one working for the website. To handle it alone is a big task. And especially if he gets messages like oh there's a person bugging me... Like block that $#*! seriously the same thing you'd do on fb!
Common sense! All in all I've never faced problems and my peoms get great exposer here. It's difficult these days because back in the day there were fewer poets posting and now it's a huge community!

Most sites with poetry tend to be filled with ads and poorly designed. Hello Poetry (right now at least) has no ads and has a nice, simple design. You can browse classic poems http://hellopoetry.com/browse/poems/classics/
Keats http://hellopoetry.com/-john-keats/
Blake http://hellopoetry.com/-william-blake/
As well as contemporary poets http://hellopoetry.com/browse/poets/contemporary/

The only knock against the site is that it's incomplete (no Shakespeare?) but the site looks new, so I hope they continue to add to their collection and keep up the clean, ad-less design.

Hello Poetry is a wonderful site for writers and a great way to show your poems. With considerable comments and a fabulous mix of poets. Everyone seems warm and friendly and actually read and comment to their fellow writers. A fantastic place to both share and learn your work.